[SOLVED] Installing Windows in new SSD without any activation key but there's Windows 10 in my old HDD.

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Fremden Führer

Fremden Führer

May 30, 2021
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I bought a new SSD and I wanna boot my pc onto it but I don't have windows 10 installed and no activation key😥 cause I can't afford it, but I have Windows 10 installed on my old HDD. Can I transfer Windows 10 to my new SSD and boot it? (but I still want my HDD Plugged in to my PC and running🏃‍♂️ with my SDD)
 
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DSzymborski
Yes, it's that easy. Licenses are tied to the motherboard; chances are that if you're logged into Microsoft you won't even have to enter in your product key again (though it's always good to have it when available, of course).

Make sure to not have the old HDD plugged in while you're actually installing Windows.
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Fremden Führer said:
I bought a new SSD and I wanna boot my pc onto it but I don't have windows 10 activation key😥 cause I can't afford it, but I have Windows 10 installed on my old HDD. Can I transfer Windows 10 to my new SSD and boot it? (but I still want my HDD Plugged in to my PC and running🏃‍♂️ with my SDD)
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You can transfer Win10 to other drive without problem, everything will be the same, just 10x faster 😉
 
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lvt said:
You can transfer Win10 to other drive without problem, everything will be the same, just 10x faster 😉
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How? What files(windows 10) im gonna transfer? Whats the steps? By the way theres still no OS installed in my ssd thats why I want to transfer my windows 10 to my ssd so i can boot it there.
 
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Fremden Führer said:
How? What files(windows 10) im gonna transfer? Whats the steps? By the way theres still no OS installed in my ssd thats why I want to transfer my windows 10 to my ssd so i can boot it there.
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Please download ans install the following software, it will help you to create an image of your current boot drive so that you can transfer it to the new SSD

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree
 
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lvt said:
Once you finished the installation and the software is running, please post a screenshot to see if everything is there (source and target disks).
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Ok Thanks for the help. Actually I Still haven't bought SSD but I will buy sooner, i just made this to know this so I will just only have to buy a SSD. So thank you very much. I'll just reply here if the SSD is here.
 
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lvt said:
What SSD model do you want to buy?

I would recommend a 250/512GB SSD with DRAM cache (from whatever brand you like).
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Kingston A400 120gb, but i'll try 250gb if i can afford it. How many GB will be spent on a ssd after I cloned windows 10? And Do I have to select mannually folders of apps like chrome from program files?
 
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Fremden Führer said:
Kingston A400 120gb, but i'll try 250gb if i can afford it. How many GB will be spent on a ssd after I cloned windows 10? And Do I have to select mannually folders of apps like chrome from program files?
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The Macrium software I mentioned above will only clone the necessary files so the image size wouldn't be a problem for most of users. You can see your current HDD usage to get an idea.

You even can start using the Macrium to see the real size of the image (you can store the image on the HDD as backup right now), that will give you the hint about what SSD you should buy.

If the whole C drive size is about 30GB or 40GB, a 120GB SSD will be a good start (you can upgrade later to SSD with higher performance using the same software).
 
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Fremden Führer said:
Kingston A400 120gb, but i'll try 250gb if i can afford it. How many GB will be spent on a ssd after I cloned windows 10? And Do I have to select mannually folders of apps like chrome from program files?
Click to expand...

It will be the same size as the origin, which means the size of the data on the hard drive, which you have to reduce to fit on the SSD. You don't just clone Windows 10, you clone the entire drive; it's not a buffet. The other option is a fresh install on an SSD and then entering in your existing license key (keys aren't tied to storage devices, they're tied to motherboards).
 
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DSzymborski said:
It will be the same size as the origin, which means the size of the data on the hard drive, which you have to reduce to fit on the SSD. You don't just clone Windows 10, you clone the entire drive; it's not a buffet. The other option is a fresh install on an SSD and then entering in your existing license key (keys aren't tied to storage devices, they're tied to motherboards).
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What do you mean? I can't clone or run my Win10 (only Windows 10 without the other files)to my SSD without transferring all of my data to the new SSD?
 
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DSzymborski said:
Correct. A clone means all of it. Partially cloning something is like being half pregnant. A fresh install on the SSD is the gold standard.
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Hmmm thats sad for me but can If I have windows installed to my ssd can i feel the power of speed while my program files are in my hdd. And I know theres a site than I can buy windows 10 key cheaper or for free can you reccomend me one of those sites?
 
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Fremden Führer said:
Hmmm thats sad for me but can If I have windows installed to my ssd can i feel the power of speed while my program files are in my hdd.
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Cloning means everything will be identical on the target disk.

Fremden Führer said:
And I know theres a site than I can buy windows 10 key cheaper or for free can you reccomend me one of those sites?
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Free key is illegal, but you can buy it.
 
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Fremden Führer said:
Hmmm thats sad for me but can If I have windows installed to my ssd can i feel the power of speed while my program files are in my hdd. And I know theres a site than I can buy windows 10 key cheaper or for free can you reccomend me one of those sites?
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You do not need a new Windows license.

A new install on an SSD in this same system requires no new license. Assuming the OS on the HDD is already properly licensed.
 
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USAFRet said:
You do not need a new Windows license.

A new install on an SSD in this same system requires no new license. Assuming the OS on the HDD is already properly licensed.
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Do you mean I can just Plug and Play my SSD, But can I boot my system on SSD without license installed so I can "Feel The Power" ,you know what I mean thats why i will buy SSD😄
 
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By the Way GUYS I googled if I can Still see the license key installed to my system and Didn't know I can still see it its just in the settings so it means to fresh install to my SSD I'll just download the "creation tool from windows" and put it in my Pen Drive, boot my system in my SSD, plug the Pen Drive, and just Type the License Key Right?????
 
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Thank you, very much to all of you guys. I'll send my progress when my SSD is delivered I'll just marked this [solved] until I finished installing Win10 (I don't even know how to marked this as solved, cause I'm new here lol.
 
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Fremden Führer said:
By the Way GUYS I googled if I can Still see the license key installed to my system and Didn't know I can still see it its just in the settings so it means to fresh install to my SSD I'll just download the "creation tool from windows" and put it in my Pen Drive, boot my system in my SSD, plug the Pen Drive, and just Type the License Key Right?????
Click to expand...

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
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Hello Guys My SSD is already here, I know it took 1 month but of course the wait is worth it cause I got 480gb instead of 120gb. And windows 10 is already cleanly installed but its not activated, cause maybe the guy who built my pc didn't installed the genuine copy of windows 10 (no need to answer I can solve this).

My question is: Can I move my User Account/Local Account/Administrator Account? Because I still want my organize Desktop Icons/Programs there.
 
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