Question How many licenses do I need? Dual-booting with one drive being a clone and the other being moved from an old PC

[isaacm8]

Hi, this is my first post, and i did read the rules and best practices, but still i want to apologize if im not posting in the right place for this question. And, i did some research on here regarding the various things i am trying to do, but through a mix of inexperience and lack of knowledge, i am unsure if i have the right answers, so i wanted to present my question from scratch.

Background: To get to my Windows 11 licensing question, i have to give some background explaining hardware for a new PC build, why i need it, and how i plan/hope to use it. Long story short, i have a work laptop that isnt performing well enough, so i am going to build a PC with the necessary capacity for the work i need to do. But, i am not going to spend as much as it takes to make a high-performance PC just for it to sit in my office and not be able to play games on it as well. So, i will be remoting into the PC i build from my office and using it to do the heavy lifting with which my work laptop struggles. I also have current PC that is mid-to-low end from which i will scavenge certain pieces.

Licensing: My work laptop has Windows 11 Pro, and my personal PC has Windows 11.

Plan: I intend to run a dual boot setup on my new PC build using separate SSDs. For the first SSD, i want to just move the one in my current computer over to the new build. For the second one, i want to clone my work laptop's 2230 SSD onto a 2280 SSD and use the 2280 SSD on the new pc build. My plan is to boot up the cloned work SSD in the mornings so i can remote into that drive from my office so that i can use the drastically better hardware i need, and then when i return home, i can boot up the personal SSD to play games.

Questions:
1. Can i move the SSD on my current personal computer over to the new build without obtaining a new license?
1a. If not, is it possible to transfer licenses to new hardware somehow so that it is no longer activated on old hardware and reactivated on new hardware?
2. Can i use a cloned SSD without obtaining a new license for the work SSD? (i assume not because that would be an infinite license glitch, but it doesnt hurt to ask)
3. If not, and i have to obtain a new license, would i still have the same Microsoft office programs as i do on my current work laptop or would i also have to obtain a new subscription for those as well?
4. Is there anything obvious im missing or an easier way to do this? At least as far as the licensing goes? (for instance, i have a clunker mini pc that i havent used in years but which works fine. So, could i move my current laptop ssd to the new pc build using a ssd adapter to make the 2230 fit into the 2280 slot and use the clunker just to remote into the new pc build that would have the current ssd?)

Thanks again yall!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

1a. If you're on an OEM license key, then no. The license will be tied to your laptop's BIOS chip.

2. You're asking for trouble since the specs for your laptop and your desktop will certainly not be same = BSoD's, instability and a lot of grey hairs or a bald head.

Might want to read through this;
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/a...ws-10-11-dual-boot-installation-and-licensing

 

[TerryLaze]

4. Is there anything obvious im missing or an easier way to do this? At least as far as the licensing goes?

You can tie your windows license to an ms account, that way anytime you sign into any PC running windows with your account it will be your windows.
If you have one work account and one game account you can use the same windows, or still do dual boot just to keep it all separated and clean.
(Keep in mind that windows will still be able to see the other disk and any virus or mistake can still affect both disks )
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows-c39005d4-95ee-b91e-b399-2820fda32227

As already said above, cloning will create all sorts of issues, do a clean install and just use your digital license/ms account.

 

[isaacm8]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

1a. If you're on an OEM license key, then no. The license will be tied to your laptop's BIOS chip.

2. You're asking for trouble since the specs for your laptop and your desktop will certainly not be same = BSoD's, instability and a lot of grey hairs or a bald head.

Might want to read through this;
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/a...ws-10-11-dual-boot-installation-and-licensing

Ah excellent! Thank you, I am good at certain aspects of technology, but i am a newbie when it comes to this type and level of sophistication, so i appreciate the guidance!

You can tie your windows license to an ms account, that way anytime you sign into any PC running windows with your account it will be your windows.
If you have one work account and one game account you can use the same windows, or still do dual boot just to keep it all separated and clean.
(Keep in mind that windows will still be able to see the other disk and any virus or mistake can still affect both disks )
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows-c39005d4-95ee-b91e-b399-2820fda32227

As already said above, cloning will create all sorts of issues, do a clean install and just use your digital license/ms account.

This is exactly the reason i came on here, its comical how obvious it is in retrospect, but i appreciate it so much !

 

[USAFRet]

My plan is to boot up the cloned work SSD in the mornings so i can remote into that drive from my office so that i can use the drastically better hardware i need, and then when i return home, i can boot up the personal SSD to play games.

This by itself requires 2x licenses. 1 for the system you're sitting at, 1 for the remote system.

As far as all that cloning/moving around? No.
A Windows install, clone or otherwise, is not modular, to be moved between systems. Especially from a laptop to a desktop.

 

[isaacm8]

This by itself requires 2x licenses. 1 for the system you're sitting at, 1 for the remote system.

As far as all that cloning/moving around? No.
A Windows install, clone or otherwise, is not modular, to be moved between systems. Especially from a laptop to a desktop.

Neat! Thank you, part of the trouble ive found is that some of the ideas ive had feel logically possible based on what i can piece together but practically they are ruinous to implement, if possible at all.

And, if you dont mind my asking, when you say "moving around" were you referring to my idea of moving the SSD i currently have in my personal PC (redundant lol) to one of the slots for the new PC? Or were you just where i was babbling about moving the laptop SSD and frankensteining it into the new desktop?

The reason i ask is because id like to use the SSD i have for my personal desktop for the personal half of my new build, at least until i could get a better one. But, given the nuisance of cloning and licensing, do you think it would be better to just get two new SSDs for each "half" of the new build along with two new licenses for each?

Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

Neat! Thank you, part of the trouble ive found is that some of the ideas ive had feel logically possible based on what i can piece together but practically they are ruinous to implement, if possible at all.

And, if you dont mind my asking, when you say "moving around" were you referring to my idea of moving the SSD i currently have in my personal PC (redundant lol) to one of the slots for the new PC? Or were you just where i was babbling about moving the laptop SSD and frankensteining it into the new desktop?

The reason i ask is because id like to use the SSD i have for my personal desktop for the personal half of my new build, at least until i could get a better one. But, given the nuisance of cloning and licensing, do you think it would be better to just get two new SSDs for each "half" of the new build along with two new licenses for each?

Thanks!

Moving a drive+ OS (or clone) between systems (ANY 2 systems), has 3 basic outcomes:

1. It works just fine.
2. It fails completely.
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

I've personally seen all 3.

The greater the hardware diff (laptop vs desktop) the less likely it is to work.
But I've seen it fail between 2 almost identical laptops.

Just do a clean install on whatever system needs it.


As far as the licensing?
People seem to have this real hangup about a Windows license.
But if you look at it, that is one of the least expensive components of a new PC!
$2,000 for a new GPU is fine, but $100 for a valid OS license that will last a decade is 'too much'.
And for the laptop, it was essentially "free".

 

[isaacm8]

Moving a drive+ OS (or clone) between systems (ANY 2 systems), has 3 basic outcomes:

1. It works just fine.
2. It fails completely.
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

I've personally seen all 3.

The greater the hardware diff (laptop vs desktop) the less likely it is to work.
But I've seen it fail between 2 almost identical laptops.

Just do a clean install on whatever system needs it.


As far as the licensing?
People seem to have this real hangup about a Windows license.
But if you look at it, that is one of the least expensive components of a new PC!
$2,000 for a new GPU is fine, but $100 for a valid OS license that will last a decade is 'too much'.
And for the laptop, it was essentially "free".

I'd never looked at it that way! For some reason, i was stuck in the college kid mentality from well over ten years ago that a license was a much bigger portion of the total cost of a device than it actually is with what ill be building haha. And, shameful to admit though it may be, the distinction between what it means to have a Windows 11 license and what it means to have a Microsoft Office license is something i'd never had to think about, and that's what was causing me concern. But even then, to your point about licensing, Microsoft Office licenses arent that much either haha.

To the extent i need anything from my laptop on my new build, ill just copy it over with an external storage and i think i'll be good to go actually . . . unless there anything else im missing 👀😅

Either way, thanks for the help!