Installing new SSD

[Ravelord Nito]

Hey guys, I'm new here so sorry if this doesn't fit in the right place. I'm soon to be upgrading my pc, new motherboard, RAM, CPU and more importantly adding an SSD. I already have Windows installed on my current hard drive and I'm unsure how to go about removing windows from my hard drive and reinstalling it on my SSD. I know how to do it from scratch, but not sure how to completely wipe my HDD without reinstalling windows back onto it and returning to the issue

 

[MWP0004]

Your best bet is to backup all the files you want to keep from your current hdd, wipe the hdd (reformat it), and do a clean install of windows on the ssd. Not necessarily in that order. I would not wipe the hdd until you are able to boot from the ssd.

 

[Ravelord Nito]

Do I not need to wipe windows from my HDD to use the same product key to install on THE SSD? ^

 

[MWP0004]

I would suggest removing the hdd completely when you're reinstalling windows. As far as I recall, as long as it's on the same motherboard, you do not need to wipe the existing drive to free the license up.

 

[RARRAF]

No as long as you go in the bios and set the ssd as the first boot device you can still have windows on the HDD

 

[Ravelord Nito]

It isn't gonna be on the same motherboard though. I've heard that if you log in with a Microsoft account then the product key binds to the account as opposed to the motherboard? Is this true?

 

[MWP0004]

It isn't gonna be on the same motherboard though. I've heard that if you log in with a Microsoft account then the product key binds to the account as opposed to the motherboard? Is this true?

I'm not sure about this. Generally OEM keys are tied to hardware. I'll bow out to someone more knowledgeable about that

 

[RARRAF]

if it was a free upgrade then you will have to buy a licence

 

[Ravelord Nito]

It wasn't a free upgrade. It's an OEM key for Windows 10 that originally went onto the system

 

[RARRAF]

I am not sure about this I do not know

 

[mojorisin23]

Why not just take the old HDD with windows on it and clone it to the new SSD? It would solve many issues post installation. You won't have to re install all your programs for the new OS, you wouldn't have to adjust the drives in the disk management, and you would have a complete backup on the old drive of all your files?

after the clone, attach only the SSD, boot up. Then shut down and attach the old HDD. it will now act as a slave drive with a backup copy of windows on it should the SSD fail.

 

[Colif]

It isn't gonna be on the same motherboard though. I've heard that if you log in with a Microsoft account then the product key binds to the account as opposed to the motherboard? Is this true?

You are correct, since version 1607, your digital entitlement may be tied to your email address, best way to confirm it is to follow instructions on this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

Right now, you can swap almost every part in a win 10 PC and provided you have it linked to a email address that you are using on it, it should auto activate. I helped a guy who swapped everything except the hdd and it worked fine after.

remove hdd when installing win 10 on ssd as it will stop windows installer deciding to use the hdd as a location for the boot partition. If you don't remove it and later decide to remove hdd, ssd may not boot.

What OS was on PC before Win 10? If it had win 7 on it, then leaving hdd in with win 10 installed won't hurt. If it had win 8 instead, its possible due to way win 10 boots that it might see the old hdd and boot from it randomly, its better idea to just wipe hdd and not have that problem.

 

[Ravelord Nito]

There was never an operating system on here before Windows 10. It was a fresh install of an OEM windows according to the writing on the sticker with the product key. Does it being an OEM version make a difference to my ability to remove it from this motherboard and HDD and use it on what is effectively a new system?

 

[Colif]

If you link it to a email address, its OEM status doesn't stop you moving it to another PC, no. As I said, I helped someone last week who changed everything except HDD in their PC and it worked fine.

Difference between OEM and retail is currently blurry, I suspect retail users can move their copy to more than one new PC (it can only be installed on one at a time), though I have no proof.