Will my Windows 10 license be deactivated when I make some major hardware upgrades?

[Tornexted]

I am planning on making some major upgrades to my PC, those being:
- switching out my ancient FM2 motherboard for a uATX LGA1151 motherboard,
- switching out my A10-5700 APU for an i7-8700k,
- installing a water cooling loop that will connect to an external radiator that's on top of my case for the i7-8700k
- switching out my 8GB DDR3 RAM for 16GB DDR4 RAM, and
- installing a new PSU.

I will be reusing my hard drive and my nVidia GT 1030 (until the bitcoin mining business is no long relevant). Before I actually do the upgrade, I'll refresh my PC via the Windows Defender Security Center. I'm just wondering if I'll run into any problems when booting up to my hard drive with Windows already installed when I finish upgrading and booting up the system for the first time.

Additional info:
- I used to have Windows 8 that came preinstalled by HP but I've reset Windows multiple times to get rid of all the bloatware so I'm pretty much running the stock version of Windows. The only difference is that at boot up, it shows the HP logo instead of he Windows logo, but other than that, it's pretty much stock Windows.
- I upgraded to Windows 10 when it was available to upgrade for free back in August of 2015.
- As far as I know, I have the RETAIL version of Windows. I checked by using cmd.
- Settings says that my licence is linked to my Microsoft Account.

 

[wpgwpg]

When you replace the motherboard with something different, Microsoft considers you have a different computer and will require you to buy another license. The exception to this would be the rare case where your version of Windows is a retail one that's licensed from more than 1 computer.

 

[jojesa]

This is from Microsoft website: "If you made a significant hardware change to your device, such as replacing the motherboard, Windows might no longer be activated."

As soon as you upgrade or change motherboard even for the same model it will deactivate Windows.

After you re-install Windows though, you can run the 'Activation troubleshooter' to re-activate it and if you have problems with activation, then you might need to use Windows Automated System or contact Microsoft customer support to re-activate.

I have done that several times after upgrading everything but the boot disk and one way or the other have worked and got it activated. Now they can even activated thru your mobile phone.
I have seen post online that some users were unable to get re-activated.

You might not even have to refresh Windows 10
I have switch from Intel motherboards to AMD and vice-versa and I kept all apps. Some apps like Office will require activation.
I just go to the Device Manager and uninstall all hardware I can that is related to my current motherboard and components then power off and use the same disk on the new system.
Windows will take care of the rest.

 

[USAFRet]

2 considerations - Operation and Licensing

Operation:
Will it actually boot up?
Maybe, maybe not. Prepare for a full reinstall.
With a parts change of that level, a reinstall is almost a guarantee.

Licensing
Read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

 

[Sleepy_Hollowed]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

 

[Tornexted]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

I found out that my version of Windows is a retail version, not OEM, according to cmd when you type in "slmgr -dli." However, I wasn't the one who installed Windows, it was HP.

 

[USAFRet]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

That concept is long past with Win 10 that was upgraded from something else.

The upgrade license (digital entitlement) does away with the original OEMness of the previous Win 7 or 8.1 license.

 

[Tornexted]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

That concept is long past with Win 10 that was upgraded from something else.

The upgrade license (digital entitlement) does away with the original OEMness of the previous Win 7 or 8.1 license.

I read the link that you provided to me on your previous post, and I was wondering if you could help me clear up some confusion that I currently have right now. On that support page, Microsoft says that "If you changed your hardware, and Windows 10 was preinstalled when you bought your PC, then you may need to purchase a new Windows license. Click Go to Store, and follow the instructions." This is sort-of true, but when I bought this PC that I'm about to upgrade, it originally came with Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 for free. I'm pretty sure that the Windows 8 version had an OEM license. Does upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1, and then to 10 change your licence? If so, that probably explains why I have a retail licence instead of an OEM one.

 

[USAFRet]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

That concept is long past with Win 10 that was upgraded from something else.

The upgrade license (digital entitlement) does away with the original OEMness of the previous Win 7 or 8.1 license.

I read the link that you provided to me on your previous post, and I was wondering if you could help me clear up some confusion that I currently have right now. On that support page, Microsoft says that "If you changed your hardware, and Windows 10 was preinstalled when you bought your PC, then you may need to purchase a new Windows license. Click Go to Store, and follow the instructions." This is sort-of true, but when I bought this PC that I'm about to upgrade, it originally came with Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 for free. I'm pretty sure that the Windows 8 version had an OEM license. Does upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1, and then to 10 change your licence? If so, that probably explains why I have a retail licence instead of an OEM one.

The upgrade to Win 10 means you can ignore the original OS that was preinstalled.

 

[Tornexted]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

That concept is long past with Win 10 that was upgraded from something else.

The upgrade license (digital entitlement) does away with the original OEMness of the previous Win 7 or 8.1 license.

I read the link that you provided to me on your previous post, and I was wondering if you could help me clear up some confusion that I currently have right now. On that support page, Microsoft says that "If you changed your hardware, and Windows 10 was preinstalled when you bought your PC, then you may need to purchase a new Windows license. Click Go to Store, and follow the instructions." This is sort-of true, but when I bought this PC that I'm about to upgrade, it originally came with Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 for free. I'm pretty sure that the Windows 8 version had an OEM license. Does upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1, and then to 10 change your licence? If so, that probably explains why I have a retail licence instead of an OEM one.

The upgrade to Win 10 means you can ignore the original OS that was preinstalled.

Oh okay, that makes a lot of sense now, how nice of Microsoft, right? Thanks so much for your help, you just saved me $120!

TL;DR (for the people who are having the same concerns as I did), you don't have give Microsoft $120 for another license if you are upgrading your pre-built PC that came with either Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and you upgraded to Windows 10 back in 2015/2016. Just follow the directions in the links that USAFRet provided in his first post, and just keep in mind that you have a RETAIL license, not an OEM.

 

[Tornexted]

If the license was OEM (not purchased with a key), it’s non transferable to another motherboard/extensive hardware changes.

That concept is long past with Win 10 that was upgraded from something else.

The upgrade license (digital entitlement) does away with the original OEMness of the previous Win 7 or 8.1 license.

I read the link that you provided to me on your previous post, and I was wondering if you could help me clear up some confusion that I currently have right now. On that support page, Microsoft says that "If you changed your hardware, and Windows 10 was preinstalled when you bought your PC, then you may need to purchase a new Windows license. Click Go to Store, and follow the instructions." This is sort-of true, but when I bought this PC that I'm about to upgrade, it originally came with Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 for free. I'm pretty sure that the Windows 8 version had an OEM license. Does upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1, and then to 10 change your licence? If so, that probably explains why I have a retail licence instead of an OEM one.

The upgrade to Win 10 means you can ignore the original OS that was preinstalled.

Oh okay, that makes a lot of sense now, how nice of Microsoft, right? Thanks so much for your help, you just saved me $120!

TL;DR (for the people who are having the same concerns as I did), you don't have give Microsoft $120 for another license if you are upgrading your pre-built PC that came with either Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and you upgraded to Windows 10 back in 2015/2016. Just follow the directions in the links that USAFRet provided in his first post, and just keep in mind that you have a RETAIL license, not an OEM.

 

[USAFRet]

TL;DR (for the people who are having the same concerns as I did), you don't have give Microsoft $120 for another license if you are upgrading your pre-built PC that came with either Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and you upgraded to Windows 10 back in 2015/2016. Just follow the directions in the links that USAFRet provided in his first post, and just keep in mind that you have a RETAIL license, not an OEM.

Point of clarification:
Upgrading from 7 or 8.1 does not grant you a Retail license, but rather a digital license.
Semantics, but it works mostly the same.

It can be transferred to new hardware.