Question Is it possible to use a windows 10 backup to install windows 10 on a brand new PC?

[Spenno2]

Hi all. I'd like to apologise if this a topic you get frequently or if it's easy to find an answer elsewhere. I've asked around with a few different people and the answers have been about 50/50 yes/no. Nobody I asked had tried it themselves but some said they'd try it and others said they'd just buy the PC with windows.

The plan I currently have is to buy a new PC from cyberpower (customised) without any operating system, and use a windows 10 backup from a legitimate version of windows 10 on a different PC to install windows10 to said blank PC. I'm quite new to the custom PC stuff and I'm okay with hardware most of the time, but I have a hard time getting much done with software. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

what you should should do is a Clean install then use your key to activate it. even if possible, I would not recommend it. your new machine will have all new hardware so your backup is basically useless.

it's a complete waste of time and effort, I would buy the pc with windows if you don't have a license already

 

[Obakasama]

To me it sounds like a potential licence violation depending on what sort of 'back up' you have.

 

[britechguy]

No, you cannot do this (at least not with any ease) since the Windows 10 license is directly connected to the motherboard on the machine on which the license is activated.

There are a number of recent threads where people have done what you say, and on some machines Windows 10 will even run, but you then end up chasing down all kinds of little gremlins over time as you don't have a legally licensed and activated copy running on the machine where the restore was done which is not the same machine on which the backup was taken.

Mandark has given excellent advice. You should just do a clean install with a freshly created USB bootable drive that you create using the Media Creation Tool on the Windows 10 download page. Purchase a license for the version you want on the new machine, or, if the old machine is being decomissioned and you have a transferrable license, then use the key you already have. There are a couple of hoops that one generally has to jump through when using a key that's been used before, and you often need to use phone activation rather than internet activation.

 

[Spenno2]

Thank you for all the advice. When buying from cyberpower you can simply ask them to install windows for you, they send all paperwork and appropriate receipts Etc with the machine upon delivery, so I think that is my best option, and given the perfectly reasonable price of said installation service I think that's my decision sorted. Again thank you very much for the advice, been worried about making this decision for a few days before I decided to ask here. Many thanks.

 

[britechguy]

It probably costs significantly less to have the builder use the volume licensing that they typically do use to install Windows 10 rather than acquiring a single user license.

 

[SgtScream]

You can use windows 10 backup to back up all of your data on the old pc. You can then retore the backup onto the Cyperpower PC, however you'll have to reinstall all of your applications.

 

[cherry blossoms]

If your license is OEM, then the ability to transfer it becomes murky. Microsoft may allow you to transfer the license, they may not..

If the license is a RETAIL one, then you can TRANSFER the LICENSE to another machine, as long as you only are truly using the license on that machine. You need to have a Microsoft associated email for the current install of windows. You can then activate a fresh install of windows 10 on the new machine with a digital entitlement using that associated email account.
You CANNOT run the same license on both machines.

 

[peters43gone]

Hi all. I'd like to apologise if this a topic you get frequently or if it's easy to find an answer elsewhere. I've asked around with a few different people and the answers have been about 50/50 yes/no. Nobody I asked had tried it themselves but some said they'd try it and others said they'd just buy the PC with windows.

The plan I currently have is to buy a new PC from cyberpower (customised) without any operating system, and use a windows 10 backup from a legitimate version of windows 10 on a different PC to install windows10 to said blank PC. I'm quite new to the custom PC stuff and I'm okay with hardware most of the time, but I have a hard time getting much done with software. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What you have suggested even if it works is a violation of Microsoft license TOS. If you are not interested to spend license fee for your new PC OS, it is the best time to try Linux based operating systems.