Cloning a WIndows 10 machine...activation problems....WOW any idea ?

[DavidinCT]

Hey all,

Found an interesting BUG. This is on the NEWEST version of Windows 10 pro NON-PREVIEW (Used Microsoft's upgrade tool to upgrade both machines). BOTH of these machines were Windows 7 laptops that were upgraded during the time they could. They were BOTH Windows 7 Professional, so as expected, they are both are Windows 10 pro.

I've been an Acronis user for years. It's one of the best apps I have found for cloning or making images of machines. Used from XP to Windows 8 with no problems and used a few times with 10...

Both machines are 2-3 year old i7 Dell Laptops with 17" displays, almost top of the line a few years ago. BOTH are the same model.

I will call them PC1 and PC2 to explain this issue/bug

PC1 - Got available, Nuked back to Windows 10 default, used the upgrade tool to update to the newest version, and built accordingly, Domain, programs and applications, tweaks and email setup, etc. Working great.

PC2 just came available - DOUBLE the memory (8 to 16gb) and a LARGE SSD, with the laptop being in FAR better shape. Like anyone else, they would prefer this one..

So, I used Acronis and CLONED PC1 to PC2...easy stuff... Windows 10 boots, gets on Wi-Fi, apps run, runs perfect but, here's where the problem comes in...

Windows 10 is not activated (both machines have a digital license), So go into trouble shooter and I get this error.

"We found a Windows 10 pro digital license for this device running Windows 10 pro. To activate using this digital license, you need to install Windows 10 pro. "

The problem is, it IS Windows 10 pro... Any work-around on this ?

Proof....Ever see this one ?

 

[orlbuckeye]

The issue it that the only Windows 10 license that allows imaging is Enterprise. Now that doesn't mean you can use Acronis to make an image of a PC but that image has to be restored to the same PC to be activated. Imaging meaning one image of multiple machines. This is defined as reimaging.

Reimaging rights is defined as deploying or copying the software (Windows 10) onto multiple devices from a “golden” or consistent image. If you are deploying Windows 10 across multiple devices and want to create a standard golden image for deployment, you’re required to use Volume License media bits and key when creating your image.