Reinstall Windows 10 With New HD

[rocketboy]

Just free upgraded my desktop to Windows 10. I'd like to do a clean re-install.
My Win10 copy says it's activated.

Question: I want to install a new SSD as my OS drive to replace my HDD as part of the re-install. Will I have problems with the license not recognizing my machine because my hardware changed?

 

[mjperry51]

Just free upgraded my desktop to Windows 10. I'd like to do a clean re-install.
My Win10 copy says it's activated.

Question: I want to install a new SSD as my OS drive to replace my HDD as part of the re-install. Will I have problems with the license not recognizing my machine because my hardware changed?

I did just this -- activated with no problem. . .

Not a guarantee!!! I believe the license allows for some system changes - hard drive, memory upgrade, video card etc. Don't know about motherboard/processor. . .

 

[rocketboy]

Thanks! I did some digging around and for past Windows versions it was related to whether your license was an OEM copy (which was not transferable to a different motherboard). Problem is I don't recall if when I bought Windows 8 Pro whether it was an upgrade to a Windows 7 OEM or whether it was a new license (the $40 thing). Either way it sounds like if I'm not changing the MOBO then that won't pop up and good to hear someone swapped drives without issues.

 

[arjan wolthuis]

I upgraded RAM GPU CPU these hardware changes didn't give a problem. But when My motherboard crashed and replaced windows wouldn't start anymore and need to be reinstalled,

 

[rocketboy]

Success!
Added a new 500GB SSD and reinstalled from DVD. Just skip entering a product key whenever the prompt appears and eventually when Windows was set up the license remained activated.

 

[jeffmparker]

Excellent. Glad it worked. I want to do something similar, but also change from 32 bit to 64 bit in the process. Did you set up a dual boot? I'll probably want to switch between the two for a while to check settings, etc. as part of the change-over. Does anyone know if you can have two installations of Win 10 on the one PC?

 

[rocketboy]

I did not set up a dual boot because my long history of setting up dual boots shows that I rarely actually boot into the old OS.