[SOLVED] Transferring a Windows 10 Licence

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Justin Hunter

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Oct 16, 2014
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So I'm planning to transfer my Windows 10 licence from my old PC i bought from best buy a few years ago (currently had windows 7 or 8) to my new custom gaming PC. I checked the type of licence i had and it says retail. From what I read online retail is transferable, or does it not matter since my old PC was a prebuilt?
 
Solution
USAFRet
Justin Hunter said:
So I'm planning to transfer my Windows 10 licence from my old PC i bought from best buy a few years ago (currently had windows 7 or 8) to my new custom gaming PC. I checked the type of licence i had and it says retail. From what I read online retail is transferable, or does it not matter since my old PC was a prebuilt?
Click to expand...
It had WIn 7 or 8, then Upgraded to Win 10?
If so, yes, you can almost certainly transfer the license to different hardware.

For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-build-1607-and-activation.2786960/


You will, of course, need...
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Justin Hunter said:
So I'm planning to transfer my Windows 10 licence from my old PC i bought from best buy a few years ago (currently had windows 7 or 8) to my new custom gaming PC. I checked the type of licence i had and it says retail. From what I read online retail is transferable, or does it not matter since my old PC was a prebuilt?
Click to expand...
It had WIn 7 or 8, then Upgraded to Win 10?
If so, yes, you can almost certainly transfer the license to different hardware.

For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-build-1607-and-activation.2786960/


You will, of course, need to do a full OS install in the new system. But the license should transfer.
 
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Solution
As long as you can find the actual license key sequence codes on your old PC, it may be used when UPgrading.
But not on a new Windows10 install.

This means you will have to install your old Win7 with license key on your new PC and THEN try upgrade to Windows10 on your new PC.

It is however much easier to purchase a new key. These days you get a digital key for cheap, but it is then bonded to the CPU in your PC, hence the key can not be migrated to another PC.

The factual windows 10 software is free to download and install, it has no key, and requires no key to install.
But you need a key to ACTIVATE your windows10 installed and be legal on your PC.
 
Last edited:
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USAFRet said:
It had WIn 7 or 8, then Upgraded to Win 10?
If so, yes, you can almost certainly transfer the license to different hardware.

For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-build-1607-and-activation.2786960/


You will, of course, need to do a full OS install in the new system. But the license should transfer.
Click to expand...

Yes, I upgraded to windows 10 during the free update period. Does that still make it valid?
 
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kaehligj said:
Moderator: I was editing my reply when you replied on my post.
It may still not be true, but for the worth of the thread, what is wrong in my now edited answer ?
Click to expand...
That's even worse.
There is no need to purchase a new license key. License transferal to new hardware was instituted with v1607.
A valid WIn 10 license that was purchased and installed, or a Win 10 that was Upgraded from a previous valid WIn 7/8/8.1 can be transferred to new hardware.
I've done this personally, and the above link from Microsoft specifically outlines how.

And especially not a "cheap license key".
 
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Justin Hunter said:
Thank you for the help. One more question. Once i transfer my licence, will my old PC still be usable? Is it just going to have the watermark on the bottom right "Activate Windows" or can i not use it at all. I want to give the PC to my parents for just basic internet browsing and such.
Click to expand...
Giving it to your parents, you really need to do a full wipe and reinstall.
Then, simply skip the license key when it asks.

You do this AFTER you transfer the license to your new system.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
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USAFRet said:
Giving it to your parents, you really need to do a full wipe and reinstall.
Then, simply skip the license key when it asks.

You do this AFTER you transfer the license to your new system.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
Click to expand...

It also says my activation type is digital, so do I just need to log into my Microsoft account on my new PC and it will be activated without having to enter a product key?
 
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I would not dare an answer to your situation.

But on my PC, I re-installed a crashed (trojan infected) windows 10 from scratch and replaced the CPU on the same go.
To my surprize Windows automatically recognizes a key after install.
I had the "Activate" notice on the crashed Windows.
 
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Same board - and the wellknown on-screen activation reminder before.
I replaced (upgraded) my CPU and re-installed windows from a downloaded install stick.
Could it be the old windows was a pre V1607, as that seems to explain my experience ?
 
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USAFRet said:
Yes, that was a possibility.
If the original license was NOT tied to a Microsoft account, then it might not reactivate easily.
Click to expand...
Hey again, so I deactivated the licence on my old computer, but now on my new PC when i try reactivating windows through troubleshooting by 'I recently had a hardware change' but my new PC doesn't show up, just my old one. How do i fix this?
 
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