[SOLVED] Windows activation picking and choosing?!

[Horrti]

Afternoon, hope you're well.

Slight issue with a new PC I have just built (amateur, at best). I have transferred the SSD with my OS into my new PC, this has caused an 'Activate Windows' watermark on my home and I cannot personalize windows. I have installed this SSD into another computer before and windows was working fine, the components were also almost exactly the same in the PC as they are to the new on it has just been transferred to.

Microsoft have said that the version of windows came with an OEM key. Which means that it is basically locked to the PC that it came with, however I know this SSD and OS have worked in a new computer.

Does anyone know why I can't activate windows or was I just lucky that it showed up as activated on the last PC i installed it on?

Any help apprecaited,

Thanks.

 

[punkncat]

I have transferred the SSD with my OS into my new PC, this has caused an 'Activate Windows' watermark. Microsoft have said that the version of windows came with an OEM key. Which means that it is basically locked to the PC that it came with.

just lucky that it showed up as activated on the last PC i installed it on

Fixed that all for your answer.

 

[onespeedbiker]

So, you had a first PC and you moved the OS drive to a second PC and it was still activated, then you trued it on a third PC, and it did not activate. First, are the other two computers no longer functioning? I'm not sure why it worked the first time because OEM licenses tend to be PC specific, but they are also attached to your Microsoft account. You did not say what the circumstances were with the second computer. It's likely the second computer also had an OEM license, which activated when you installed the OS drive from the first.

BTW, any time you have a different PC, unless it has the exact same components, it's best to have a Clean install of Windows. While it might seem to work, and perhaps does, there is always the likelihood there might be some corruption of the system files which will show itself later.

 

[Horrti]

So, you had a first PC and you moved the OS drive to a second PC and it was still activated, then you trued it on a third PC, and it did not activate. First, are the other two computers no longer functioning? I'm not sure why it worked the first time because OEM licenses tend to be PC specific, but they are also attached to your Microsoft account. You did not say what the circumstances were with the second computer. It's likely the second computer also had an OEM license, which activated when you installed the OS drive from the first.

BTW, any time you have a different PC, unless it has the exact same components, it's best to have a Clean install of Windows. While it might seem to work, and perhaps does, there is always the likelihood there might be some corruption of the system files which will show itself later.

Hello, thank you for your response.

So yes, I moved my SSD with OS to a new pc, everything worked fine and windows was activated. The PC then started randomly freezing every 3-4 days. Checked all components for faults apart from RAM, MOBO and CPU. Searched the internet far and wide and tried all suggested solutions including replacing CMOS etc. This didn't work so components I couldn't tested myself were returned to the manufacturer. When new components arrived the new pc (3rd pc in total) was built and the old SSD was installed just as it was on the 2nd pc.

However for some reason windows now needs to be activated.

Edit: First PC still works fine, 2nd PC had either CPU, RAM or MOBO issues adn was returned. 3rd PC working fine, no issues however windows can#t/won't activate.

 

[Horrti]

Fixed that all for your answer.

Lol, thank you.

So every PC I build needs another £110 worth of windows installing each time?!

 

[onespeedbiker]

The truth is you were fortunate Windows activated on the second PC. The odds are the reason your second PC had issues was the lack of a clean install. Was the first PC pre-made or also custom? How was the license for the firt PC aquired? Where their any components shared between the first and second PC and the second and third PC?

 

[USAFRet]

Lol, thank you.

So every PC I build needs another £110 worth of windows installing each time?!

Not necessarily.
It depends where the actual license originated.

If it was from a prebuilt system...an OEM license, than that is not transferable.
A Win 10 license that YOU purchased is transferable. Of course, only one system at a time.
A previous WIn 7/8/8.1 that was upgraded to Win 10 is likewise transferable to new hardware.