Motherboard change and HDD cloning without having to repay for windows

Robbie Whelpton

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Jul 5, 2015
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Long story short I'm looking to upgrade my computer and the computer expert I'm speaking too at the minute has taken 1 week for a reply.
I'm looking to change my motherboard from a cheap gigabyte motherboard to Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel LGA1150 Z97 ATX Motherboard
and change my cpu from a core i5 3340 to a core i7 4790k
I am currently using a 500gb HDD and want to add a SSD and use it as a boot drive.
The computer was prebuilt and the past 2 year's i've been upgrading it.
I am now wanting to change all the stuff listed above and still have the same copy of windows without having to repay for it or having to buy a new windows license or having to reinstall it etc
I know changing windows from hdd to ssd without having a clean version won't be as good and will have con's to it but that's why i will use the reset PC function so it removes all my pc's junk so it runs good as new


(no need to worry about psu wattage and if it will be enough I have 750w)

Is this all possible?
I can't just ask the computer expert without getting recommendations on what i could change etc change my corsair powersupply to a super flower psu
 
If you change your motherboard and you have an OEM Windows license (most likely) your key will be flagged as invalid when you boot up from the new hardware.

The only way to avoid having to re-purchase Windows is to contact Microsoft Support and ask them to unflag you Key. Explain that you are upgrading your motherboard and there is a chance they will re-activate your key. IF they refuse, you'll have to buy another copy of Windows.
 
I am in the same situation except without the problems. I haven't switched over to the new board yet but in the name of preparation I made a windows 7 ultimate boot drive out of a thumb drive. You can look up how to do that after obtaining a copy of the OS install files(Which in the effort to save time I did illegitimately, you don't have to but you can if you think it's easier) and then upgrade to windows 10 from there. If you're looking for windows 8.1 it's the same concept but i'm not certain if it'll work.
 
We don't condone illegal activity here on Tom's, so please don't suggest it.

It won't matter in what order he clones or attempts to upgrade to Windows 10, if the hardware is significantly changed (motherboard) he'll need to contact Microsoft Support because the Key will be flagged.
 
Well, until you figure it out I wouldn't hastily install the board. Wait until you have the OS files and a working key then install the board and boot from a drive with the OS on it. Otherwise, you could get a Linux based OS for free, if you're into gaming SteamOS might work for you.