Will I need to buy Windows 10 if i reuse a hard drive on a new motherboard

[Doubleboys]

I am thinking about buying a new mother board, case, and processor for my computer. My current computer has a 2 TB hard drive and it would be best to reuse that since 2tb is a lot of storage. So, can I just reuse that hard drive on a new motherboard and just buy windows 10 or will that not work?

 

[clutchc]

It seems your title question and message question are contradictory. If you want to use the HDD in the new build, that's fine. If you want to use the drive as-is with the existing OS installed from the previous machine... 1) Win10 allows up to 3 moves as of last information I have. 2) Depending on how different the old machine was from the new machine, Win may not boot. It installs itself based on the system components it finds. That includes every component on the motherboard.

Ideally, you'd want to do a clean install of Win10. But that would mean a clean install of everything else that was on the HDD as well.

 

[Math Geek]

exactly, you can reuse the win 10 key but you have to tie it to your MS account so it knows who you are when trying to reactivate in on the new mobo.

simply format the hdd and do a fresh install of windows for the new stuff.

if you want to know if you can buy win 10 and use it on the old drive. no problem there either. same thing, format the drive and install windows to the new drive once it's in the system

back up the data as it will be lost in either case.

 

[Doubleboys]

Well. I got this hard drive from a prebuilt pc that had windows 10 on it already. I heard from a friend that if I were to move the hard drive with windows 10 on it to another pc, it will not work due to windows trying to block copying of win 10 keys.

 

[Math Geek]

that is correct, not only would windows not want to boot up on the new pc due to all the driver conflicts and such.

you will need to do a fresh install of windows for the new hardware but you're current key should be good to reuse. you do have to tie it to your MS account though for it to transfer. see this for instructions before making the move to be sure you do it right. http://www.howtogeek.com/226510/how-to-use-your-free-windows-10-license-after-changing-your-pc%E2%80%99s-hardware/

sorry for the mix-up, somehow i got details mixed from several threads.

 

[Doubleboys]

So what exactly do I do after getting a key of win 10? Like by clean install do you mean deleting everything off of the hard drive?

 

[clutchc]

@ Math Geek
I was under the impression that Microsoft changed their licensing requirements with the introduction of Win10. I thought the user was allowed up to 3 "machine" moves on the same license. No?

 

[Math Geek]

my bad, i got myself confused with a couple threads together. my second answer was directed at another person who was given a hdd from a friend. obviously that key would not transfer to the new owner of the hdd.

fixed the answer thanks for the heads up clutch. took me a minute to get my thoughts straight.

So what exactly do I do after getting a key of win 10? Like by clean install do you mean deleting everything off of the hard drive?

note that i messed up my second answer and you won't need a new win 10 key. just be sure you follow the tutorial and tie your install to your MS account. create one if you need to to save your license. tutorial is linked for that in the post you selected as best answer

yes a clean install will delete everything off the hdd. it is done during the windows installation. when asked where to install windows to, you'll get some "custom" options that will let you format the drive and start new. obviously you should back-up any data you want to keep since everything on the drive will be deleted during the format. here is a tutorial for that process for win 10 http://lifehacker.com/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10-1720775893

 

[clutchc]

...i got myself confused with a couple threads together...

... been there, done that.

 

[Doubleboys]

So. I actually dont need to buy windows 10 again since my account has a windows 10 key associated with it?

 

[Math Geek]

exactly. sorry for the confusion. no need for a new key, just follow the guide to reactivate it on the new system.

 

[Doubleboys]

Okey dokey! You just saved me $80! Thank You!

 

[Math Geek]

no problem. come on back if you have any issues with the process. we know lots of good stuff we are always happy to share 😀

 

[MajinSam]

I also took a HDD from a retail HP and installed it into a computer I just built with a second motherboard...and it booted W10 directly up on the first try...Just straight to my password screen. Id expected, as I assume this is an OEM version of Windows, that I'd have to buy another copy. I knew retail versions had 3 transfers, but...furthermore, I didn't even have to put drivers on it. I'm sure that part belongs in another thread, but any clue as to why either of those happened? I almost feel cheated that I didn't have to get dirty with any of it.