Transfer W10 to New Computer

[jimlau]

I am tossing my old computer, which has windows 7 pre-installed, after which I got the free Windows 10 upgrade. So I have no Windows installation disk. So,

1) how can I get Windows installation software for my new computer (is it somewhere on my current computer?
2) if I scrap my other computer, and thus never use my license again, can I transfer it to my new computer?

Thanks.

 

[Tim Locke]

The activation of W10 is tied (for a home type user) either to the motherboard for the free W10 or to a real purchased licence. So when you dump the old machine that licence has gone forever. But surely your new machine comes with a W10 licence...unless you are building it yourself, in which case you do need a new licence.
So:
1. Your old computer is licenced and activated by MS. Even if you had saved the install files from the free upgrade it wouldn't activate on the new machine.
2. No but. If your new machine can boot into W10 from your old disk then you could try to persuade MS to activate the new machine telling them ( by phone) that the old motherboard etc failed but it is still really the same machine. People say that they will often allow that but it is a bit unethical for the sake of a $100+ licence.

 

[jimlau]

ok, so what happens if I do a fresh install on the same computer except with a new, and smaller, SSD? Everything's the same save the smaller drive. At least on this computer the license will remain valid?

 

[Tim Locke]

That is perfectly fine. Clone the C: drive with the W10 OS on it and it works instantly and it is all activated. I have done that on 3 W10 machines

The main thing that controls activation is the motherboard.

 

[CalMyPal]

You can't use the image of your old computer to move to your new computer. You can use Laplink to transfer all from the old files and programs to the new computer. http://www.laplink.com/index.php

 

[George Bingham]

Have a somewhat different, but at the same time similar problem. I cannot boot up my PC after I tried to go back to the original W10 upgrade from Win 8 as I was having problems. (Virus?) No matter what I do I cannot get past start up. Can I disconnect my old drive and replace it with a new one and then how do I instal Win10?

 

[Tim Locke]

Have a somewhat different, but at the same time similar problem. I cannot boot up my PC after I tried to go back to the original W10 upgrade from Win 8 as I was having problems. (Virus?) No matter what I do I cannot get past start up. Can I disconnect my old drive and replace it with a new one and then how do I instal Win10?

so your PC started with W8 and you took the free upgrade to W10. Yes?
Then you went back to W8 for some reason? And now you want to go back to W10?
You are trying to get back to the W10 that you had.

Your machine is registered with MS as having a legal W10 copy. SO you can download a fresh uptodate W10 and do a clean install. See Trouble's threads and posts about exactly how to do it. We would recommend that you save all your personal files and do a complete install.

 

[pjaj]

ok, so what happens if I do a fresh install on the same computer except with a new, and smaller, SSD? Everything's the same save the smaller drive. At least on this computer the license will remain valid?

Yes, I did exactly that (other than it was a bigger SSD). Make sure that you have a valid verified Microsoft Account by going to Windows Settings > Accounts. This is the route MS use to validate your PC.
Then download a clean copy of the version of W10 you are using onto a USB thumb drive (and burn a DVD as insurance)
Swap the drives and reinstall W10 from scratch. It is all fairly straight forward from there on.

 

[Bruce Banks]

I am tossing my old computer, which has windows 7 pre-installed, after which I got the free Windows 10 upgrade. So I have no Windows installation disk. So,

1) how can I get Windows installation software for my new computer (is it somewhere on my current computer?
2) if I scrap my other computer, and thus never use my license again, can I transfer it to my new computer?

Thanks.

I have a Retail version of Windows 7 which I updated to 10. Since it is a retail version and not OEM I can transfer to a new PC using retail key. Also, I had to get a Win 10 install disk from getintopc website. Worked fine for me

 

[Kitty]

ok, so what happens if I do a fresh install on the same computer except with a new, and smaller, SSD? Everything's the same save the smaller drive. At least on this computer the license will remain valid?

I used this tutorial for the SSD replacement (& posted a comment about things I ran into that it didn't deal with):
How to Upgrade Your Laptop’s Hard Drive to an SSD http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/ssd-upgrade-tutorial