[SOLVED] New motherboard? New license?

[OblivionsEdge]

My old motherboard has stopped working and I just want to know whether, after buying a replacement board, whether I would have to reinstall windows from scratch and pay for a new license, whether Windows will reinstall but will format the SSD with my copy of Windows on, along with my data, or whether I'll be able to just plug my SSD into the new motherboard and everything will work fine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[punkncat]

If it is otherwise the same system, probably not. According to how many systems you have used this OS on, as well as other factors, but in a very general way even if it won't activate a quick phone call/chat should straighten it out.

 

[kanewolf]

My old motherboard has stopped working and I just want to know whether, after buying a replacement board, whether I would have to reinstall windows from scratch and pay for a new license, whether Windows will reinstall but will format the SSD with my copy of Windows on, along with my data, or whether I'll be able to just plug my SSD into the new motherboard and everything will work fine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

The unfortunate answer is "Yes. And it depends". A motherboard change almost always requires a clean OS install. The "it depends" is where the previous license came from and what version.

 

[punkncat]

^ Agreed. I feel like any time you have one install of Windows in a system and move it to another system or have a significant build aspect changed, and fresh install is a great idea. With that said, Win 10 is REALLY good at finding stock drivers to work on boot even with systems quite a bit different.

Ideally I would dock your current OS drive to a working system, pull all your personal files and such, and do a clean install.

 

[OblivionsEdge]

If it is otherwise the same system, probably not. According to how many systems you have used this OS on, as well as other factors, but in a very general way even if it won't activate a quick phone call/chat should straighten it out.

So I built this PC in December 2015, it was budget at the time and still runs well. Exact same hardware as before, only difference is the motherboard may change from the broken Asus h110m-a ddr4, to another h110 motherboard made by gigabyte or whoever. Only ever used this copy of Windows on this computer

 

[punkncat]

So I built this PC in December 2015, it was budget at the time and still runs well. Exact same hardware as before, only difference is the motherboard may change from the broken Asus h110m-a ddr4, to another h110 motherboard made by gigabyte or whoever. Only ever used this copy of Windows on this computer

As to specifically the license issue I feel like the "chat with an agent" button and that exact explanation should do fine.

 

[OblivionsEdge]

The unfortunate answer is "Yes. And it depends". A motherboard change almost always requires a clean OS install. The "it depends" is where the previous license came from and what version.

So initial install was from an ISO image, which I then bought a license key online for about £20. I might be able to find the old license key, if it is needed?

 

[punkncat]

So initial install was from an ISO image, which I then bought a license key online for about £20. I might be able to find the old license key, if it is needed?

Eeek....that could change that "chat with an agent" thing, lol.

I understand that one of the PC Mag or like sites is running a promotion for Win 10 pro for $40 till the end of July. Carey Holzman had some details in one of his recent build videos and on page IIRC.

 

[OblivionsEdge]

Eeek....that could change that "chat with an agent" thing, lol.

I understand that one of the PC Mag or like sites is running a promotion for Win 10 pro for $40 till the end of July. Carey Holzman had some details in one of his recent build videos and on page IIRC.

What would happen, if I was just just plug in my SSD into a new motherboard? Would Windows attempt to install, or would I just get stuck in the Bios? Also, if I was to buy a new copy of Windows, would the installation process, wipe my data from the SSD?

 

[kanewolf]

What would happen, if I was just just plug in my SSD into a new motherboard? Would Windows attempt to install, or would I just get stuck in the Bios? Also, if I was to buy a new copy of Windows, would the installation process, wipe my data from the SSD?

Unknown. There are three possibilities. It works great. It works but has unfixable problems. It doesn't work at all. All three are possible. It is unpredictable.

 

[punkncat]

What would happen, if I was just just plug in my SSD into a new motherboard? Would Windows attempt to install, or would I just get stuck in the Bios? Also, if I was to buy a new copy of Windows, would the installation process, wipe my data from the SSD?

Most likely it's going to boot up into Windows just fine. You certainly could have issues related to the wrong chipset drivers and such mobo level stuff, but it will probably figure that out quickly on first boot.
Afterward you will most likely just see that you aren't activated. All your files and folders and info will still be on the disk whether it boots or not so long as you don't corrupt or damage it or format it.

 

[lindstrom]

If your key is digital it is normally linked to your Microsoft account and you can reinstall and reactivate by just signing in to the account. Here is more information about activation https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activate