Just Upgraded to Win 10 Thinking about getting an SSD - Will I be ok to fresh install?

[XxCJH123xX]

So I heard that Windows 10 works off of your Hardware and that if it changes this makes your licence invalid, basically my question is: Can I upgrade to an SSD with a clean install of Windows 10 and this use my Windows 10 licence or will adding the SSD to my hardware invalidate it? Also do I need to find a Windows 10 for my current installation to reinstall or can I just reinstall and It picks it up on MS's End?

 

[Adamw0611]

Adding the SSD should be fine, the Windows 10 key is written in UEFI, so the only change that should hurt it is a motherboard upgrade. I've even had luck re-using CD keys in the past with a motherboard upgrade, just had to call Microsoft phone activation and it worked.

 

[SchizTech]

All versions of Windows take a snapshot of your hardware but it seems that the motherboard is considered the "system." It's permitted to change boot drives without affecting the license. If you need a copy of the .iso go here

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

 

[XxCJH123xX]

Adding the SSD should be fine, the Windows 10 key is written in UEFI, so the only change that should hurt it is a motherboard upgrade. I've even had luck re-using CD keys in the past with a motherboard upgrade, just had to call Microsoft phone activation and it worked.

I upgraded from 8.1 to 10 so would that still apply?

 

[SchizTech]

Adding the SSD should be fine, the Windows 10 key is written in UEFI, so the only change that should hurt it is a motherboard upgrade. I've even had luck re-using CD keys in the past with a motherboard upgrade, just had to call Microsoft phone activation and it worked.

I upgraded from 8.1 to 10 so would that still apply?

As long as the same motherboard is used it should re-activate. During the upgrade process did you get an upgrade key? If so enter that key when prompted, otherwise you might have to call MS support. Thinking about this it occurs to me that this is a new OS and the way things like this will shake out isn't clear yet but MS has stated that a fresh install is allowed after the upgrade for no cost on the same system (i.e., motherboard)

 

[SchizTech]

An alternative to a fresh install is to clone the HDD to the SSD (some new SSD come with such cloning software) in which case you'd just boot in to the SSD and everything should be just as it was (except a bit faster).