Will transferring an HDD with windows work in a new build?

[Hardware man]

I've just finished my 1st build, a ryzen 5 build, now I just have to deal with the software. And sadly enough, I forgot to include the windows in my budget, but since I have an old pre-made pc with windows 10, can I just slam the hdd in there then the new pc will accept it and just run everything without a hitch? How do I do it? Or is it even possible?

 

[mjslakeridge]

Probably won't work. The old HDD will have the drivers for the old components. When you add the drivers for your new build, there will be driver conflicts. You need to do a clean installation of Windows. If you don't have the budget right now, you can still install Windows 10 (download from official Microsoft site), and run it "unactivated". You will get a reminder from time to time to activate it, and I think it has a watermark on the screen, but should be fully functional. When you get the funds you can buy a license key and activate it.

The only way you could use a copy of Windows that was in a previous build is if your new build had the same motherboard (as if the old MB died and you replaced it). But a clean install is always preferred.

 

[USAFRet]

I've just finished my 1st build, a ryzen 5 build, now I just have to deal with the software. And sadly enough, I forgot to include the windows in my budget, but since I have an old pre-made pc with windows 10, can I just slam the hdd in there then the new pc will accept it and just run everything without a hitch? How do I do it? Or is it even possible?

Almost certainly not. It would be unlikely to even boot up.
And with a preinstalled OEM Win 10, that license probably can't be transferred to new hardware.

Just install a clean Win 10, and leave it unactivated.
Until you can "unforget" to buy a valid license key.

 

[pjmelect]

Yes it will work in the sense that Windows will boot up. Windows 10 is very good at dealing with being transplanted into another computer and will sort out the hardware changes unlike previous versions of windows, however it is unlikely to be activated. You can buy a key from eBay for only a few Rallods.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes it will work in the sense that Windows will boot up. Windows 10 is very good at dealing with being transplanted into another computer and will sort out the hardware changes unlike previous versions of windows, however it is unlikely to be activated. You can buy a key from eBay for only a few Rallods.

Windows 10 is "better" than previous version, but by no means 100%.
Do it enough times, and you WILL see it fail.

And buying a Windows license from fleabay is fine, if you wish to later buy it again from a valid source.