Question Moved disk to almost-identical computer; now Windoze is broken.

[Van_Snyder]

I moved a Windows 10 SSD from one computer (Dell Vostro 1700) to another almost-identical one (the new one has more memory) because the display died on the old one. The new one has an Intel WiFi card and the old one had a Broadcom card. It boots on the new computer, but my setup is gone and it's complaining about not being registered. What now?

 

[USAFRet]

I moved a Windows 10 SSD from one computer (Dell Vostro 1700) to another almost-identical one (the new one has more memory) because the display died on the old one. The new one has an Intel WiFi card and the old one had a Broadcom card. It boots on the new computer, but my setup is gone and it's complaining about not being registered. What now?

Yes, this happens.

Moving a drive+OS to a new system often fails.

Possibilities:
1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

The original Dell came with the OS preinstalled?
That OEM license will need intervention from MS to activate on new hardware.
But it really really needs a clean install in the new system.

 

[Van_Snyder]

The Windoze stamp on the bottom of the Dell Vostro 1700 was for Vista, which MS was happy to update gradually until it eventually became Windoze 10. Then the display broke and I moved the disk to an essentially identical computer. How does it know it's a new computer?

I have the original Windoze Vista license key. I doubt that will work for a clean install of Windoze 10, which would otherwise cost $$$. Can I get media for a clean install of Vista, and then spend a few weeks or months doing the same sequence of upgrades that MS sent me, unsolicited, during the last many years?

 

[USAFRet]

Then the display broke and I moved the disk to an essentially identical computer. How does it know it's a new computer?

Hardware serial numbers.
Primarily, the motherboard.

Can I get media for a clean install of Vista, and then spend a few weeks or months doing the same sequence of upgrades that MS sent me, unsolicited, during the last many years?

No.
It is still a different system.
The original Vista license would not work on the new system.