Will I need to a new copy of Windows 10 after motherboard upgrade?

[ryanhartness19]

My friend wants to upgrade his motherboard and processor. He currently has an FX-4300 and some generic motherboard we don't know the name of. He wants to upgrade to a Ryzen 3 1200 and ASRock AB350 Pro4 motherboard, but we are worried about his copy of Windows 10 no longer recognizing or working with the new components. I have seen other posts related to this topic, but they didn't seem to answer my specific questions.

What would I need to do to ensure the OS will function after the upgrades? Would I need to uninstall all the old drivers, upgrade the parts, then put the Windows 10 disc (that he may not have) in and boot up with the new parts? Would it even be possible without the disc? I am grateful for any help you may have. I am a bit nervous about recommending these things to him, just to end up with a broken copy of Windows.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Depends on his current version of Windows 10. Was it pre-installed in a pre-built computer? If so, he's pretty much out of luck. If the PC was a home build with a Windows 10 license and Certificate of Authenticity, then he should be able to assign the license to a Microsoft Account as opposed to the old motherboard/hardware. Once that is completed, he'll be able to perform a clean install of Windows 10 onto the new computer hardware.

You should always perform a clean install of Windows when changing the motherboard, IMO.

-Wolf sends

 

[boosted1g]

Even with an OEM license you can link it to a microsoft account (which is now what will be used to log in to windows)

Then you can transfer it to the new PC

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

You will need to download the windows 10 media creation tool and then create a bootable USB.
Then after you install windows 10 you should install the drivers for your motherboard and GPU
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[USAFRet]

My friend wants to upgrade his motherboard and processor. He currently has an FX-4300 and some generic motherboard we don't know the name of. He wants to upgrade to a Ryzen 3 1200 and ASRock AB350 Pro4 motherboard, but we are worried about his copy of Windows 10 no longer recognizing or working with the new components. I have seen other posts related to this topic, but they didn't seem to answer my specific questions.

What would I need to do to ensure the OS will function after the upgrades? Would I need to uninstall all the old drivers, upgrade the parts, then put the Windows 10 disc (that he may not have) in and boot up with the new parts? Would it even be possible without the disc? I am grateful for any help you may have. I am a bit nervous about recommending these things to him, just to end up with a broken copy of Windows.

Licensing:
Read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

Operation:
Going from a FX-4300 to a Ryzen system...a clean install is strongly recommended, possibly required.