[SOLVED] win10 key

[kimtaro]

Hi,

I just purchased a new laptop, and instead of copying a lot of data I thought I could just move the ssd. This though caused that I have to reactivate Windows.

My question is: If I log on to my microsoft account, and remove my previous laptop from it, will I be able to activate windows on my current laptop. Or does this just remove my previous laptop from my account while the windows key is still bound to it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wolfshadw]

You shouldn't just "move" an OS hard drive from one computer to another. This will typically cause all kinds of headaches as the new hardware is unfamiliar to the old OS.

You really should just go ahead and move the data to the new system and not worry about activation keys.

-Wolf sends

 

[britechguy]

Windows keys are bound not only to an account but to the motherboard of a given machine (as they need not be bound to any Microsoft account).

But the advice you were given by @Wolfshadw is correct.

On Transferring a System Drive with Windows 10 to a Completely Different Machine

Yes, you can do this, but you will get one of three results:

1. The machine will not boot, period. In which case you will simply have to do a completely clean install of Windows 10 anyway. If the hardware is really different this is the most likely outcome.

2. The machine will boot and run, even relatively well, and you can reactivate Windows, but because the hardware is completely different you will spend weeks to months chasing one issue after another because virtually nothing from the old hardware matches the new and that would make any OS crazy. It’s expecting things that just aren’t there anymore.

3. The machine will boot and run flawlessly, though Windows will not be activated. This happens, but is the least likely outcome. I’ve personally never seen this occur, but there are enough credible reports that it must happen on occasion. I would also imagine this only happens when one is dealing with actual or virtual "hardware twins" for the transplant.

My general advice is to start again from scratch with a completely clean (re)install. It all depends on what your tolerance for experimentation and frustration is. But you should expect that all will not go perfectly smoothly, into the indeterminate future, if you do not start from scratch.

If the machine in question ever had Windows 10 installed and activated at any point in the past it when you reinstall it will automatically fetch the digital license for the edition that it knows that machine last had. You can, of course, choose to upgrade it to a different edition, e.g., Home to Pro, by purchasing a Pro license key and using Settings, Update & Security, Activation Pane, Change product key link. After doing the under the hood activation for the components that were previously locked, you’ll have Windows 10 Pro instead. Windows 10 does not have to be reinstalled, as all components are already present, it is the license key that determines which are unlocked and active, which in turn is what determines the edition you’re running.

 

[USAFRet]

Hi,

I just purchased a new laptop, and instead of copying a lot of data I thought I could just move the ssd. This though caused that I have to reactivate Windows.

My question is: If I log on to my microsoft account, and remove my previous laptop from it, will I be able to activate windows on my current laptop. Or does this just remove my previous laptop from my account while the windows key is still bound to it?

Thanks in advance!

Did the new laptop come with its own OS?
If yes, then just move your personal data over to it.

Moving the whole drive with the old OS is the pathways to eventual tears.

 

[kimtaro]

The new laptop was without OS.

If I reset the windows installation, will it likely make it work as it should then?

 

[USAFRet]

The new laptop was without OS.

If I reset the windows installation, will it likely make it work as it should then?

No.
It needs a clean install.
Not a "reset".

 

[CloudyFaygo]

I would not recommend you take an SSD (Already imaged) from one machine and place it in another. The hardware is different and as others have mentioned you will run into a TON of issues.

Personally, if you are worried about a Windows 10 key being the issue then let me save you the worry of spending a lot of money and suggest you look on "ebay" for keys as I have purchased 100% legit Pro licenses for $8-12 bucks.

 

[USAFRet]

Windows licenses from fleabay for $10 are unlikely to be "legit".

 

[CloudyFaygo]

Windows licenses from fleabay for $10 are unlikely to be "legit".

I have purchased 5 licenses that I confirmed with Microsoft Support as being legit and not attached to a organization. The vendor is marked here for future reference, https://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDOWS-10...187488&hash=item2ad3a09d95:g:PUYAAOSwaZRdbmYJ which is from "twip19"

Do not get me wrong, Microsoft Support chat was VERY upset / unwilling to help me but I was able to manage and confirm that my keys were legit / worldwide for single use.

 

[USAFRet]

Interestingly, the laptop I'm typing this on is a victim of a license form 'other than valid sources'.

Refurb purchased late Feb 2019, Win 10 Pro installed, exactly 6 months later, it is now "Unactivated".

 

[DSzymborski]

I have purchased 5 licenses that I confirmed with Microsoft Support as being legit and not attached to a organization. The vendor is marked here for future reference, https://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDOWS-10...187488&hash=item2ad3a09d95:g:PUYAAOSwaZRdbmYJ which is from "twip19"

Do not get me wrong, Microsoft Support chat was VERY upset / unwilling to help me but I was able to manage and confirm that my keys were legit / worldwide for single use.

Legit...for now. Customer support just goes with what they have. That doesn't mean they won't be blacklisted later. Nor do they mean that they were obtained from a legit source. In the worst-case scenario, it's one of the things that criminals do to launder money. In the best-case scenario, poorer parts of the world may find their prices for Microsoft products raised (as has already been seen in Steam games). Microsoft only uses a gentle rein right now because they're prioritizing moving people onto Windows 10.

But hey, you saved money so I guess that's all that matters. You do you, boo.

 

[CloudyFaygo]

Interestingly, the laptop I'm typing this on is a victim of a license form 'other than valid sources'.

Refurb purchased late Feb 2019, Win 10 Pro installed, exactly 6 months later, it is now "Unactivated".

That is too bad and I am sorry to hear that your machine is now "Inactivated". So far after a year of having these keys on machines I manage for friends/family we have not run into any issues. I did read a lot online of the keys having a "TTL" but those were all shown to be attached to an organization that paid for (example: 1000 licenses). Once an organization realized that keys were being redeemed outside, then the process of declaring them "stolen" would resolve in the followup of having them be "Inactivated".

You are 100% right with the fact that most keys sold on ebay would be not legit but with that specific vendor I mentioned above, no issues.

 

[Wolfshadw]

...but with that specific vendor I mentioned above, no issues... YET

Fixed that for you.

-Wolf sends

 

[DSzymborski]

You are 100% right with the fact that most keys sold on ebay would be not legit but with that specific vendor I mentioned above, no issues.

If you buy a Blu-Ray player from someone who is amazing at shoplifting, that doesn't mean it was legit.

There's no legit Windows 10 Professional key at that price. None. Never. Ever. At least pirates have some minimum sense of decency in that they're at least admitting up-front that they're stealing, rather than paying $5 so that they can assuage their guilt and pretend that they're not.

 

[USAFRet]

And not even blacklisted by the company or MS, but rather it cannot check into its corporate license server at least once every 6 months.
As I suspect the case is with mine.

I then become a ping pong ball between the reseller on Newegg, and the manufacturer, Asus.

Refurb Asus Transformer, arrived with Win 10 Pro.
Unexpected, but we;ll go with that.

Reseller: You are past the 30 days repair or replace. Contact the manufacturer.
Me: I don't want repair or replace, the thing works perfectly. Except...
Reseller: Contact the manufacturer, Asus
Asus: (after a lengthy phone conversation) Here is the license key for the original OS that came with

Of course, that license key does not work with this install. It came from the factory with Home, I received it with Pro.

Me to reseller: "This is what Asus said, and this is what happened."
Reseller: May we interest you in $20 credit for your troubles?
Being literally in the middle of a 3 week vacation, I have neither the time nor inclination to get deep into arguments back and forth.
The reseller in this case knows perfectly well what they did.

After I get home I will 'fix' this issue, one way or the other.
But I can't do a whole OS reinstall in the middle of 'having fun'.

tl-dr
Just because the cheap licenses show as activated initially does not mean it stays that way.