Windows 10

[Baerut1253]

Hi guys,

I’m building a new computer - replacing literally everything but the HDD’s. I was told I’ll probably need to reinstall windows since it will be trying to load old drivers etc.

Is there any way to transfer my current copy of windows over? from what I can tell, Windows 10 is no longer free.. really don’t want to pay $200 for a license.

Any help would be appreciated!

[PhantasmagoriaX]

Did you actually pay for windows 10 or was it the upgrade promo they were running? If its the upgrade then you are going to need a new copy. If you purchased a version of windows 10 then you should be able to get a hold of Microsoft to transfer the new license to the new mobo

[Ozzyorcborne]

Ive always wondered this myself. Ive rarely moved to new hardware so i always wondered how it works to move. I have a copy of windows 10 pro. If i ever re-installed, youre saying i would need to call MS to have them move it?

[Jimusmc]

Did you actually pay for windows 10 or was it the upgrade promo they were running? If its the upgrade then you are going to need a new copy. If you purchased a version of windows 10 then you should be able to get a hold of Microsoft to transfer the new license to the new mobo

when i put windows 10 on a new ssd my license was linked to my MS account when i put in the login info it just activated windows

[ProfessorTjc]

You can actually run Windows 10 without a license forever but, you won't be able to change your background if I remember correctly. There are other ways to get Windows 10 keys that worked so far for me (over a year of having one). I got mine off Ebay for $10.

[Castration]

Windows 10 is still free to upgrade to...

[Baerut1253]

To “upgrade” maybe. But I don’t have any key... not 7 or 8.. I purchased this entire system from a friend years ago and I can only assume he didn’t have a legit license to start. Looks like my only option is to buy a license? Or find someone locally with an install USB?

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You can actually run Windows 10 without a license forever but, you won't be able to change your background if I remember correctly. There are other ways to get Windows 10 keys that worked so far for me (over a year of having one). I got mine off Ebay for $10.

How do I get the install on a USB if I wanted to run it without a license?

[Amorac]

MS is (was) usually very easy with consumers if they want to transfer their old key to a new PC. Tell them the old PC/CPU died and you had to buy a new PC. As long as the key hasn't been used a lot they most likely let you activate it.

Otherwise you may take the risk and look at the offers https://www.kinguin.net/category/194...ional-oem-key/

Do advise to google the seller tho.

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To “upgrade” maybe. But I don’t have any key... not 7 or 8.. I purchased this entire system from a friend years ago and I can only assume he didn’t have a legit license to start. Looks like my only option is to buy a license? Or find someone locally with an install USB?

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How do I get the install on a USB if I wanted to run it without a license?

You do not need a license to install W10, you can download the installer from MS directly that can either make a bootable USB or DVD for you.

[ProfessorTjc]

How do I get the install on a USB if I wanted to run it without a license?

The best thing I can tell you is find another computer, go to the Microsoft website and download the usb tool. Make sure you have at least an 8GB flash drive.

[Baerut1253]

The best thing I can tell you is find another computer, go to the Microsoft website and download the usb tool. Make sure you have at least an 8GB flash drive.

Having trouble finding such a thing. This is all I am coming across https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/wi...qx4bznwk4/0003
and it still wants me to pay

[Soisoisoi]

As said previously, W10 is still free to upgrade. Get something like Speccy to show your current Windows code and use that.

[Amorac]

Having trouble finding such a thing. This is all I am coming across https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/wi...qx4bznwk4/0003
and it still wants me to pay

Try https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

/edit US link instead of dutch

[Baerut1253]

As said previously, W10 is still free to upgrade. Get something like Speccy to show your current Windows code and use that.

So install it without a license, then use my current license to upgrade?

[Soisoisoi]

So install it without a license, then use my current license to upgrade?

Yes, that should work fine. As said above use the Windows 10 install tool from Microsoft's website, via USB.

[Saphyron]

To “upgrade” maybe. But I don’t have any key... not 7 or 8.. I purchased this entire system from a friend years ago and I can only assume he didn’t have a legit license to start. Looks like my only option is to buy a license? Or find someone locally with an install USB?

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How do I get the install on a USB if I wanted to run it without a license?

go to here https://www.microsoft.com/da-dk/soft...load/windows10 to download the official iso from microsoft.
Use the tool it comes with to install on a flash drive.

Start the installation of windows 10
When you get to the part that asks for license choose the options active license later.

Never active license until you decide to buy windows 10.
Unactivated license limits your background and there will be a small watermark in the lower right corner. That's basically it.

I have been in contact with a Microsoft employee over the phone. I was stated the following:

"We prefer that you buy the product but it is not illegal to use an unactivated license."

And then a lot more than that, that I forgot, but the general gist of it. they want you to pay for it but they also know there is a higher chance of you paying for it if you use their unactivated version over someone cracking it.

[blackmartin]

Yes, that should work fine. As said above use the Windows 10 install tool from Microsoft's website, via USB.

If your keeping the same HDD/SSD's but upgrading all the parts you can try to boot up once it's all setup, but usually the windows install is setup for the current hardware and may give boot errors. If it does let you in you can always choose the upgrade method and keep local files. Otherwise a fresh install with USB/ Burned DVD is your best route.

Just make sure you choose to the option 'I don't have a product key' and you can technically run Windows 10 without it forever. You just might get annoyed not being able to customize anything but you should be just fine to use it for gaming and everything else

[The Stormbringer]

Hi guys,

I’m building a new computer - replacing literally everything but the HDD’s. I was told I’ll probably need to reinstall windows since it will be trying to load old drivers etc.

Is there any way to transfer my current copy of windows over? from what I can tell, Windows 10 is no longer free.. really don’t want to pay $200 for a license.

Any help would be appreciated!

You can find programs online that find your current product key (it's just in the registry and this thing looks it up for you) and then you can use that for re-installation.

[EyelessCrow]

You might have to get in touch with microsoft support because it won't activate. Windows 10 now activates licenses and ties them against hardware. So if you were going to just replace hard drives you could reinstall 10 and it would auto activate without typing in any product key. Since you are replacing motherboard, ram, and CPU it will see it as a whole new machine. Though I'm pretty sure Microsoft wants you to purchase a whole new license with a new machine.

[Didly]

You can actually run Windows 10 without a license forever but, you won't be able to change your background if I remember correctly. There are other ways to get Windows 10 keys that worked so far for me (over a year of having one). I got mine off Ebay for $10.

Yeah don't do this. Spend the money on a proper license and avoid purchasing keys from Russian and Chinese keyseller stores. Most likely it was stolen, because no business owner would pay $80 for a wholesale Win10 key and sell it for $10 on eBay. Same goes for Scamguin or G2A, or any of those other shadyass keyseller sites.

There is no software that will pull your current license key anymore. Back in the day you could use something like Magical Jelly Bean to pull an Office or XP key, but nowadays the license is baked into the BIOS and auto-activates upon installation. JellyBean may pull an installation ID, but the "key" it pulls for Win10 isn't actually an active license.

Windows 10 can be activated with a Win7/8/8.1 key. If you don't have one, you'll need to buy one. You cannot run Win10 unlicensed for more than X amount of time before the system will indicate that you need to buy a license to proceed. With Win7, you could cheese the "free trial" period by using slmgr.exe commands with certain flags, but this isn't really a valid solution for someone to do long term.

Just buy the license, pay Microsoft their $120-$140 in blood money, and move on. Trust me you don't want to be on the receiving end of Microsoft's lawyers.

(Spoken from experience as a consultant who was hired by a company who violated Microsoft's CAL licensing rules and ended up with a massive bill.)

[Gaidax]

While I am all up for using real 1st party licensed OS, which is what I am doing since being old enough to earn my own bread and roof, I sincerely doubt law enforcement or MS lawyers squad will be hunting for some random dude that runs OS obtained in shady ways at home.

Companies - yeah that's for sure, because that's where the $$ to be had for breaches like that, but random Joe or Bob running it at home? They won't bother.

That said, I think if one can't reuse license, then really no point being miser - buy official - it's a purchase for many years and is best practice really from all standpoints.