Is there a need to reinstall windows 10 changing to z370 from 270?

[Superlp12]

I am contemplating changing to a 8700k with a z370 motherboard from same manufacturer from the same series. From gigabyte z270 auros gaming 7 to a z370 auros gaming 7. Can i get away without doing a fresh reinstall of windows 10?

 

[DSzymborski]

You may -- Windows 10 is very cooperative and your chipsets aren't all that dissimilar -- but I'd still recommend it as best practice.

 

[Kashimi]

You should be fine.

 

[Colif]

at the same time, its possible windows 10 will inactivate your install due to the motherboard being different.

On current PC, have a look in settings/update & security/activation
If next to activation it says Windows is activated with a digital license then your licence is currently tied to the motherboard, you can create a MIcrosoft account if you don't have one now by clicking this link - https://account.microsoft.com/ - and then clicking add an account on activation page

If it says Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, then your account is already linked to licence.

this page shows what you need to do to link old PC to a email address, and what to do on new PC to complete move - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

the troubleshooter may fix it or you may need to contact Microsoft support to move the activation across.

If you find you get errors and stuff, making sure your licence is linked to your account now will make it easier when you go to install win 10 again.

 

[USAFRet]

I am contemplating changing to a 8700k with a z370 motherboard from same manufacturer from the same series. From gigabyte z270 auros gaming 7 to a z370 auros gaming 7. Can i get away without doing a fresh reinstall of windows 10?

Read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

That's for the licensing.

For the actual install, it might work, it might fail.
Prepare for if it fails.

 

[Peter Martin]

if i can bet i would say no

 

[Superlp12]

Appreciate all the feedback. Licensing has no problem as I have already confirmed it to be link to my Microsoft account. I am hoping for a price drop of the z370 and 8700k when the 9 series is release soon(Oct?).

 

[Kashimi]

So I can confirm 100% that yes you can just swap a hard drive into the new build and it will work.
How well? Well I'm glad you asked. I got the "activate your windows" tag on my screen that won't go away, and I cannot reactivate using my key either. So tomorrow I'll be doing a fresh install of windows.

Lesson to learned here : do a fresh install. It will generally solve all of your problems.

 

[Colif]

So I can confirm 100% that yes you can just swap a hard drive into the new build and it will work.
How well? Well I'm glad you asked. I got the "activate your windows" tag on my screen that won't go away, and I cannot reactivate using my key either. So tomorrow I'll be doing a fresh install of windows.

Lesson to learned here : do a fresh install. It will generally solve all of your problems.

if that is only problem you got, try contact Microsoft and explain what you did and they may be able to reactivate it. Beats a fresh install if you don't need one - See this link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=530206

 

[Peter Martin]

Never be a woontang. Install fresh when you swap a mobo

 

[USAFRet]

So I can confirm 100% that yes you can just swap a hard drive into the new build and it will work.

That is a 100% maybe.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails completely

 

[Peter Martin]

the only time I ever got away with it was back in the old nVidia Chipset with their universal drivers. they would just all automatically install when mobo was swapped and it was nice.

 

[whateverdude]

Appreciate all the feedback. Licensing has no problem as I have already confirmed it to be link to my Microsoft account. I am hoping for a price drop of the z370 and 8700k when the 9 series is release soon(Oct?).

Linking your Windows to Microsoft account doesn't say much.
If you have upgraded to Windows 10 for free for example Microsoft will only allow to use that copy of Windows to that motherboard you had when upgraded only.

Other than that i'd say there's 90% chance Windows will work with the new MB.

 

[USAFRet]

If you have upgraded to Windows 10 for free for example Microsoft will only allow to use that copy of Windows to that motherboard you had when upgraded only.

Incorrect.
v1607 changed all that.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

 

[whateverdude]

I don't think so...
I don't read anything on those articles about Microsoft changing the licensing policy.
If you upgrade you got license for that motherboard only.
It's not a software thing it's a Microsoft license thing.

"If you’re signed in using the correct Microsoft account, here are some additional reasons why you can’t reactivate Windows:

The edition of Windows on your device doesn’t match the edition of Windows you linked to your digital license.
The type of device you’re activating doesn’t match the type of device you linked to your digital license.
Windows was never activated on your device.
You reached the limit on the number of times you can reactivate Windows on your device."

If you upgrade for free that number is 0.

 

[kerberos_20]

some licences may not necesarily be working in new system, make sure u dont have any of teh oem variations, they shouldnt work in other mainboards

i can tell u mine story
when win 8 came there was about half price cut for it, so i got it for 59.99eur for win 8 pro which is cheap, later it went to win 8.1 and later key moved to win 10 pro, no issues there until i replaced whole pc to a new one, key didnt want to activate...after some googling i did found out that GGK licence is pretty much OEM licence....
so i went to ms support and played dumb, some guy from tham did really hard try to activate ti with power shell comands, registry keys, nothing worked, so i got new key (for free) which is win 10 pro 32/64bit English USB which should be retail hue hue

 

[USAFRet]

I don't think so...
I don't read anything on those articles about Microsoft changing the licensing policy.
If you upgrade you got license for that motherboard only.

Right in the link from Microsoft.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change

Using the Activation troubleshooter after a significant hardware change


And reference the hundreds of people just in here that I've shown that to and it works.
You can choose to not believe it.
Or, you can try it, and see that it does actually work.



-----------------
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activation
If you made a significant hardware change to your device (such as replacing the motherboard), Windows 10 might no longer be activated and you might see the activation error codes 0x803f7001 or 0xC004C008. If you're running Windows 10, version 1607 or later and you added your Microsoft account to the new device, the digital license will be linked to your device. When you see these error codes, you can use the Activation troubleshooter to reactivate Windows.
------------------

 

[whateverdude]

Dude i'm sorry if you want to remain in your ignorance it's fine by me.
I explained you in plain English that you cannot change MB if you upgrade for free to Windows 10 because the the number of times you can reactivate Windows are zero zip null.

 

[USAFRet]

Dude i'm sorry if you want to remain in your ignorance it's fine by me.
I explained you in plain English that you cannot change MB if you upgrade for free to Windows 10 because the the number of times you can reactivate Windows are zero zip null.

Well, dood...I showed you some links and text, direct from Microsoft, that says you can.
I've personally done it. Many, many others have as well.

I'm sorry if it is too hard for you to understand that the licensing rules have actually changed.

I shall leave you to wallow in your misconception and falsehoods.

 

[bignastyid]

Dude i'm sorry if you want to remain in your ignorance it's fine by me.
I explained you in plain English that you cannot change MB if you upgrade for free to Windows 10 because the the number of times you can reactivate Windows are zero zip null.

I have done it twice on my rig(win 10 pro free upgrade from an OEM 7 pro originally bought on Newegg) and I have done it for others on about a dozen other rigs. It works just fine if you follow the steps USAFRet has posted.

The ignorance here is all yours.

 

[Colif]

You can move the license to an entirely new PC, none of the hardware needs to be the same. IN the last 2 years I have lost track of how many people I have helped move the licence.

The only OEM windows 10 licences that cannot be moved are special licences held by the big OEM like Dell or Lenova, and only when win 10 is pre installed on PC. Those are tied to machine, but the rest can move at least once. I haven't helped anyone move it more than once though, that might be a limitation that splits OEM from Retail. Anyone who upgraded from 7 or 8 can move the licence and reactivate it on a new motherboard or PC or combo of above.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Dude i'm sorry if you want to remain in your ignorance it's fine by me.
I explained you in plain English that you cannot change MB if you upgrade for free to Windows 10 because the the number of times you can reactivate Windows are zero zip null.

I think you have that insult turned around.

I have done exactly what you said, multiple times. It works fine. You CAN transfer the license, a long as its only on ONE PC.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Dude i'm sorry if you want to remain in your ignorance it's fine by me.
I explained you in plain English that you cannot change MB if you upgrade for free to Windows 10 because the the number of times you can reactivate Windows are zero zip null.

I believe you are mistaken and should be listening to these others here who know what they are talking about, because I just upgraded from the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5, TODAY, to the ASUS Maximus VIII Hero, and while for some reason, it would not re-activate through my Microsoft account, which it has done previously, all I actually had to do to bring my digital entitlement back into effect was enter my old Windows 8.1 key by clicking the Change key option. Poof. Magic.

Additionally though, I've reactivated at least fifteen other systems, if not more, after changing motherboards or moving the hard drive to an entirely new machine, and ALL of them had been upgraded to Windows 10 from older versions of Windows. None of them required buying a new license, but they all required either having a Microsoft account tied to that Windows digital entitlement, entering the original product key from the qualifying product or going through the Microsoft activation protocols. That should be plain enough for anybody, even in English.

 

[Superlp12]

i have just installed my new 8700k and the gigabyte z370 gaming 7 motherboard. Seems to work fine without reinstalling windows 10. Windows stays activated. My windows is a full retail version. It says checking devices when first booted up and it goes through a few reboot before booted into windows.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, that's cool. If you notice any irregularities or weird quirks, you may still at some point want to do a clean install but if it's working fine and you're happy with it, I can't see any harm in leaving it as is.