Question Windows 10 license after clean install on upgraded PC

[Tanyac]

My son has an old computer. It needs an upgrade. He's a game player and he creates games too. Does some video encoding and after effects work.
His preference is to stay with Windows 10 but he's also willing to go to Linux if this proves too tough....

He upgraded from Windows 7 to 8.0 then 8.1 then to 10, and several releases since. His Windows drive is an absolute mess. I had to upgrade his SSD to 500GB just to keep him going. And he's running in MBR mode.

So time for a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, another SSD, bigger HDD, and a new cooler to take care of the overclock he plans on.

Windows 10 I'm sure is going to have issues with activation. Is this going to mean he has to buy yet another license, or is there a way to keep his existing license, even though his motherboard and CPU have been upgraded?

I've read lots of threads on Microsoft support, but I don't have a Microsoft account and never will, so I can'l log in to post, so here I am. The gist seems to be "Just keep buying additional licenses every time you have an issue"? That's insane

 

[USAFRet]

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/


And you do not need a "microsoft account'.
Literally, I use a gmail email address for this. Have had it that way for years and years and years.
Any email address will work.
You do NOT need blahblah@microsoft.com or blahblah@outlook.com.

 

[USAFRet]

ANd in this new system...you really really need to do a clean install.
Don't try to carry over the already borked up install from his old system.

Full wipe and install on whatever drive you choose.

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

 

[Tanyac]

Full wipe and install on whatever drive you choose.

Absolutely agree. I did actually say that in the title
It'll be a much more secure install that he's used to.

His PC is thrashing his SSD almost non-stop, with telemetry turned on for almost everything he has installed and absolutely no privacy options enabled. I've built and upgraded a lot of systems, but this has got to be one of the worst. 323 Processes running too...