Upgrading to SSD with W7

[RAMEON01]

Ok, my current setup right now is a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard, Q9550 processor, 2x 1TB Corsair Black HD, and one 250 gig HD. I currently am using one 1TB HD for the Windows 7 install that was the build 7600 that was "trial" I believe. Well the wife installed all the optional updates, one of them being the update that authenticates your Windows 7 build that they recently last month put out. Now its saying its not genuine, not a big deal, I was going to buy it anyway. My question is is it going to be worth it to upgrade or just hold out another 6 months when I build my I7 comp and have a better choice of HHD's?

My options are these
1. Upgrade to an SSD and put a valid W7 on it (what do I do with the current HD that has the trial on it? Do I have to format it?)
2. Keep the system as is and just buy a valid W7 (can I just move all files to the other HD, format it, install W7, then move it all back to the 1st HD?)
3. Leave as-is. (whats the worst that could happen, get bugged on ever start-up to validate?)

Also I don't game to much on it and only use the comp for watching movies via 4890 GPU to a 58" plasma, internet browsing, and amazon lol. thanks for any input

 

[rwpritchett]

Keep in mind that if you purchase an OEM version of Windows 7, legally it will be tied to the machine that you first install it on. In other words, you probably don't want to purchase an OEM Win7, install it on your current setup, and then expect to transfer the license to a new build in a couple months. Microsoft may ask you to purchase a new license/key.

Again, that is how it works legally for OEM. Retail and upgrade versions allow the license to be transferred as long as it's only on one machine at a time.

 

[RAMEON01]

Keep in mind that if you purchase an OEM version of Windows 7, legally it will be tied to the machine that you first install it on. In other words, you probably don't want to purchase an OEM Win7, install it on your current setup, and then expect to transfer the license to a new build in a couple months. Microsoft may ask you to purchase a new license/key.

Again, that is how it works legally for OEM. Retail and upgrade versions allow the license to be transferred as long as it's only on one machine at a time.

It stores the key to the machine, meaning the BIOS on the motherbard? Or the hard drive? And if it stores it to the HD then it would make sense to get an SSD, license it, and switch it on the new machine when the time comes. Am I following right? Thanks for your help

 

[rwpritchett]

It's been a while since I looked into this, but this is what I remember about Windows activation:

When you activate Windows, it takes what's called a hash number that is an alpha-numeric fingerprint of your current hardware and registers it with Microsoft along with your Windows key. If you reinstall and that hash number is sufficiently different than the previous one, it won't let you activate without calling Microsoft. If you tell the Microsoft tech that you have an OEM copy, then you better have a good explanation why it's going on different hardware or they won't let you activate. For retail, they will just ask if you have that copy of Windows installed on another machine and if the answer is "no" then they will help you activate.

Sometimes when you do a dramatic upgrade, for example a new motherboard, on an existing machine even your Windows will ask you to reactivate because the checksum hash number has changed enough to trigger the flag.

The intent is to prevent people from buying one Windows license and installing it on multiple computers.