Question New build with only the HDD and current install retained, will windows activate?

clarkey1984

Distinguished
Feb 13, 2014
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18,545
Hi all, both of my old lga775 core2quad builds that I made up from spare parts for my parents, and my fiancée's dad a few years ago died from old and underpowered power supplies, so what I've done is re use the case and dvd lightscribe drive (whatever that means) from my parents one as they've bought some all in one thing now, and the HDD from my partners dad's one, then grabbed an Asus H110ma-dp board cheaply from a mate, a 16gb (2x8gb) ddr4 kit from another mate, and my old i5 7600 to make a much more capable PC for my fiancée's dad, the new 500w evga PSU is due tomorrow.

But as this is meant to be a Christmas present for the fiancee's dad, I'm hoping that it'll have a sh1tfit initially, but then sort itself out and activate, as it is, or was running win10, and was linked to his MS account, I already know his login details, so I'd rather gift him it on the 25th all up and running rather than having to jump through hoops, as he was in a band for 45 years (he's 82) and all his stuff is on there, and due to his age it'd be a lot better not having to start from scratch.

Anyone know if this is likely to be the case? Or will I have to buy a license again?

Many thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
First off, this NEEDS a full wipe and reinstall.

Second, this is Windows 10?
If so, and the current license is linked to his MS account, you can almost certainly transfer that license to the new hardware and a new install.

But it DOES need a full wipe and reinstall.



And even if it does need a brand new OS license, it is a $100 xmas present to your fiancée's dad.
Money well spent.
 

clarkey1984

Distinguished
Feb 13, 2014
56
1
18,545
First off, this NEEDS a full wipe and reinstall.

Second, this is Windows 10?
If so, and the current license is linked to his MS account, you can almost certainly transfer that license to the new hardware and a new install.

But it DOES need a full wipe and reinstall.



And even if it does need a brand new OS license, it is a $100 xmas present to your fiancée's dad.
Money well spent.

Thankfully it all worked as intended and activated with no problem, although the HDD is an old one I salvaged from a sky+ box so it's of a lower rpm than a PC one, and is in turn slow, so I'm ordering an SSD as we speak, the aforementioned slow drive can then be formatted and used as a 2nd drive for extra storage, all's well that ends well.