I'm so frustratingly confused as to what i need to do to transfer Windows 10 to new PC.

[wotwotwotwot]

As the title suggests i'm struggling a little(allot) in figuring out what i need to do with windows 10 on my new build. I'll be using the same SSD, just upgrading the rest of the computer. My settings say my W10 is linked to my account with a digital license.

Things i'm confused about:

How do i safely de-activate windows on my current PC?

How do i reinstall windows on my new PC on the same SSD? If i try formatting the SSD to get it ready for the new build, surely my PC will just crash midway through as i lose essential files, would it not?

Can i just load into my new PC with the windows i have installed, then do a full reinstall?

As you can see i'm confused as all ****, and i really need some reassurance that i haven't just wasted all my money on a new build that won't even run unless i get a whole new boot drive.

Thanks.

 

[LucoTF]

Quick and dirty: just pop the ssd into your new build, it will updates the drivers for the new hardware and off you go - it will reactivate windows when you sign in with your linked microsoft ID

longer but cleaner & better overall: create windows 10 bootable media (usb or dvd), put SSD in new PC, format it during the install process and do a clean install of windows.

Because you are re-using the drive that had the original license on it there's no need to deactivate before doing this - there would only be a problem if MS picked up the same license in use in two devices at the same time.

 

[wotwotwotwot]

Quick and dirty: just pop the ssd into your new build, it will updates the drivers for the new hardware and off you go - it will reactivate windows when you sign in with your linked microsoft ID

longer but cleaner & better overall: create windows 10 bootable media (usb or dvd), put SSD in new PC, format it during the install process and do a clean install of windows.

Because you are re-using the drive that had the original license on it there's no need to deactivate before doing this - there would only be a problem if MS picked up the same license in use in two devices at the same time.

Thanks, i'm still a little confused about the formatting. When i chuck in my SSD into the new build, wouldn't it just automatically start up windows? How would i get it to go through installation / formatting instead? I've done USB installation before, but that was on a new SSD.

Also would i still not have to de-activate windows if my old PC will be going to my brother? I was under the assumption licenses were tied to the motherboards.

Again, sorry for the ignorance and thanks for the help, but i've never been in this particular situation before.

 

[LucoTF]

The motherboard does not hold the licence.

As long as USB is the priority boot device in BIOS it will load that first. If it isn't, it will go straight in to the 'quick and dirty' mentioned above. You can in fact start the installation process via usb in your existing tower and format it there to get around this.

You can deactivate if you want but it's pointless, it doesn't actually notify MS of anything it just removes it from that copy of windows, on that hard drive.

 

[wotwotwotwot]

The motherboard does not hold the licence.

As long as USB is the priority boot device in BIOS it will load that first. If it isn't, it will go straight in to the 'quick and dirty' mentioned above. You can in fact start the installation process via usb in your existing tower and format it there to get around this.

You can deactivate if you want but it's pointless, it doesn't actually notify MS of anything it just removes it from that copy of windows, on that hard drive.

Cool, thanks very much! Feeling allot more confident now.

 

[LucoTF]

Happy to help