Question Migrating my hard drive to a new PC

[willyj73]

I am going to update to a new PC (home built by me). Can I just move my current hard drive to my new system, or would/could this cause too many problems? I dread the thought of re-installing Windows and the updates, software, games, game mods, etc.
My Windows 10 install is about a year old on my current PC. I'm guessing I could have driver issues (Realtek audio, Intel, wifi and Bluetooth off the top of my head).

 

[USAFRet]

And if you did and tried it, and if it failed.....that is between you, Microsoft, and who you purchased it from.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Again, that product key activated Windows 10 last year with no problems. If Windows isn't making a distinction between retail and OEM, then why can't I activate a "retail" copy of Windows 10 on my PC?

If you assigned that license key to your Microsoft Account, you should not have had any issues in activating the license on your new hardware (per the links @USAFRet and I have provided).

Now when I built my current system, I did have an issue with a bogus key (purchased direct from Newegg - not a marketplace affiliate). Microsoft refused to activate it due to the license being used too many times. I had to go back and forth between Newegg and Microsoft before getting it resolved. That may be the issue here. Did Microsoft tell you WHY it refused to activate the key?

-Wolf sends

 

[willyj73]

If you assigned that license key to your Microsoft Account, you should not have had any issues in activating the license on your new hardware (per the links @USAFRet and I have provided).

Now when I built my current system, I did have an issue with a bogus key (purchased direct from Newegg - not a marketplace affiliate). Microsoft refused to activate it due to the license being used too many times. I had to go back and forth between Newegg and Microsoft before getting it resolved. That may be the issue here. Did Microsoft tell you WHY it refused to activate the key?

-Wolf sends

The guy I talked to stated that it could not be activated. He was from India, and was very difficult to understand. At first, I used chat for customer support. Some person had me type commands into command prompt (running as admin). Said to shut off pc for 2-3 minutes, then hold power button for 20 seconds. Apparently was supposed to install something so I could activate my product key. It didn't work. I received an error concerning my memory during that phase--I can't recall the exact message. It was as if my memory was trying to overclock and was setting it to original configuration. I did not overclock my memory, but did enable XMP.
The second attempt, Microsoft asked for my phone number and had an agent call me. This was the guy from India. I could not understand much of what he was saying, and had to ask him to repeat himself several times--still being unable to understand. He did ask for my product key. He apparently had difficulty understanding me as he had the wrong info several times. We did verify the numbers and letters were correct (had to say "M" as in "Mike", "X" as in "X-ray", that type of stuff). He stated the product key could not be used to activate Windows on my pc.
Again, I could not understand him, and did not want to continually ask him to repeat himself as that just leads to anger on both sides. I muddled along as best as I could by providing necessary information to try to resolve the problem; but, I could not get into details as I could not understand the guy.

 

[willyj73]

I am now on my old pc. I've left stuff so I can remove my old hard drive and install it back into my old pc fairly easy. Below is a screenshot of my activation page. You can see that W10 is activated and linked to my MS account.

 

[willyj73]

Again, a screenshot while using old pc. I blacked out some stuff, but you can see the PC name begins with "U".....same name as what is shown in previous photo on 1st page.

 

[willyj73]

I was just going by this statement:
"Listen, I'm not lying. I bought a scammed product key from Newegg last year. I just found out last night that it was OEM sold as retail. "

If that was referring to a different buy, I apologize.


Now, back to the issue...

Did you see my Activation Troubleshooter link above?

That was the same buy, I just found out that the product, apparently, was a scam. It was packaged as a legitimate Windows product. I bought it from Newegg--trusting the site to deliver a legitimate copy of W10. However, if you look at my photos of the packaging, you can see it is missing Windows security features. I do recall having the thought that the barcode looked different; however, I just assumed Microsoft changed it's packaging. I don't buy MS stuff often; but I do know companies change their packaging, and just assumed it was Microsoft's new packaging. Now, too late, I looked on Microsoft's website and saw they use still use security features to identify Genuine Microsoft Products. So, yeah, I got scammed, but I was trying to buy a legitimate product in order to avoid having problems. I wasn't trying to get a cheap price (as can be seen on my copy of my invoice). I purchased a new SSD to install W10 onto. Since I had other stuff to buy, I just bought W10 from Newegg as well.

 

[USAFRet]

Hey, you're not alone. I've had scam OSs as well.

Couple years ago, bought a refurb Asus Transformer laptop. Newegg, $200.
Came with Win 10 Pro. All the text in the Newegg listing said was "Windows 10", so I figured all was OK.

Exactly 180 days later....that license Unactivated itself.
Seems the refurbisher installed a bogus/corporate Win 10 Pro license. Worked perfectly for 6 months.

And there was NO need for them to do that. All they had to do was install the original thing it came with, Win 10 Home.

Multi layer bitchfest between me, MS, Newegg, Asus, and the refurbisher.
With me as the pissed off customer in the middle.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Looking back at your images, I saw something I didn't like:

Note the part that says, "Not Labeled for Individual Resale".

I'd go back to Newegg with your receipt AND this image and demand either a refund or replacement key. They should not have sold this to you.

-Wolf sends

 

[willyj73]

Looking back at your images, I saw something I didn't like:

Note the part that says, "Not Labeled for Individual Resale".

I'd go back to Newegg with your receipt AND this image and demand either a refund or replacement key. They should not have sold this to you.

-Wolf sends

I'm not sure if the card is a legitimate card from Microsoft. The packaging is not. And, the USB drive is not. USB drive is similar to what Microsoft provides, but doesn't have the security features. The product key card is supposed to have the word "Microsoft" around the edges of the green area on the barcoded label. I magnified this area using my phone, and cannot tell if it has the Microsoft name. It does have small print; however, I was not able to make out the words. Here is a link to the security features that should be on a legit software package. As you can see from my photos, the packaging doesn't have a holographic/color shifting label. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/howtotell/software-packaged

The product key worked on one machine. I don't know enough about MS business to know how a scammer did this. But, somehow, somebody obtained working product keys and created fake Microsoft packaging to sell on retail sites. I contacted Newegg customer service. I will contact them again to try to get this resolved. I am outside of their return window; however, they provided the means for a scammer to operate on their site, and their site is, for the most part, a site for purchasing PC and PC related products. They should, IMO, vet 3rd party sellers on their site. I don't think there is any case law YET (other than California) that protects consumers from 3rd party scammers. Regardless, if I were a seller, I would take responsibility for the stuff I sell on my site (I do so on Ebay when I sell stuff).

If they (Newegg) don't take responsibility for what they sell on their site, I might just purchase W11 (from Microsoft) for my new PC--If I'm going to pay (again), I may as well get the new OS so I'll have a longer period of product support. It's a rough area though as I don't know if some software will work on W11.

 

[willyj73]

It seems Newegg customer service may be working to make this matter right. I hope they do. I'll try to remember to update this post for the outcome of the situation.
I wrote an honest review on their site, and CS contacted me. Looking at other 1 star reviews, it appears other people got shafted too on their W10 product keys (without realizing they were sold bad keys). There are probably other people, as well, using OEM keys with working OS who don't realize they were sold OEM keys.

 

[willyj73]

Well, it doesn't look like, so far, anyone is willing to make things right. Newegg was able to contact the 3rd party seller. The seller stated they contacted the manufacturer--which, to me, is total B.S. I don't know how, or why, Microsoft would sell a non-genuine product. So, the seller is either confusing the word "manufacturer" or is lying.
I'm going to look to see if I can take this to small claims court. So far, it seems their isn't much law regrading online retailers. They have to be shown to do business in PA. I don't know how to procure Newegg's sales in PA. But, I would imagine they do enough sales to constitute them falling into the definition of "doing business" in PA. Also, CA did have case law where they held a retail facilitator responsible for 3rd party seller. If I remember correctly, you are to go after the person/entity which caused harm. To me, this would be Newegg. They, in turn, should go after the person/entity which caused them harm--which would be the 3rd party seller.

 

[willyj73]

After some communication with the seller, the seller took it upon themselves to issue a refund, which is good on them. It took two communications, but they offered, willingly, to issue a refund. I don't know if the seller was the scammer, or if they bought (knowingly or unknowingly) product keys from scam artists. I'll have to update Newegg review when the return goes through--I do see though that they issued a refund.

I guess the lesson is: buy Windows from Windows. If buying from an online retailer, IMMEDIATELY check the product to assure that it's a GENUINE Microsoft product.

I read other Microsoft 10 one star reviews, and it seems that other people bought bad product keys. I don't think those people realize that they have been scammed--a lot of them blamed Microsoft for their product key not working; or, for the product key not being the correct version of Windows 10.