Putting old hard drive into a new PC?

[KamilT]

Hi, I really need help with this I want to buy a new PC but the HDD doesn't have windows on it, the one i currently have has 8.1 and so I was wondering if I factory reset the HDD and put it into a new PC would it run windows normally and would it work?

Another question would be, is there a way for me to keep my data and put the HDD into the new PC without perhaps reseting it?

 

[bistwo]

No. Windows deactivates itself if it detects that the hard drive is being booted in a different PC. You could however buy a new license and reactivate windows on the new PC and keep your data intact.

 

[Quixit]

No. Windows deactivates itself if it detects that the hard drive is being booted in a different PC. You could however buy a new license and reactivate windows on the new PC and keep your data intact.

This is true if you have an OEM Windows license (E.G. one that came with a computer). Upgrade or full licenses are transferable to a new machine.

 

[USAFRet]

Probably not.
Putting a drive with an already installed OS may or may not work.
Even if it does, you may run into issues later.

Clean install in new hardware is ALWAYS recommended.

Some people may chime in and say "It always works no problem!" They have simply not tried it enough times.

And then you run into potential licensing issues. What license is this OS? Where did it come from?

You're building a whole new PC. A new OS is at most 10% of that build price.
Even if it does work, then you have the other PC with no OS. Sell that to finance your new OS for the new PC.


You could try it though. Be 100% prepared for if it does not work, or does not activate.
A clean install is always recommended. This means a reinstall of everything else as well.