2 PC's activated with 1 license key?

[Shlong]

I don't know how it occurred but I currently have two PC's activated with just 1 license key.

My brother had a Q9550 with 240GB SSD and Windows 10 Pro. I recently upgraded to a Ryzen 7 build so I offered him my i7 2600K with 512GB SSD and he took it. The Q9550 he will be giving to our mother. His Q9550 activation was linked to his Microsoft account.

I cloned all the data from the 240GB to the 512GB, stuck the 512GB SSD back in the i7 and activated Windows through troubleshoot and signing on his Microsoft account. I did a quick format on the 240GB, fresh install of Windows 10 Pro and during the install, I opted for entering a license key later. When Windows was done installing, I went to activation and I was surprised to see that it said it was activated. I thought it would go away but 4 days later, both the Q9550 and i7 2600K PC's are saying activated.

Was wondering why would both PC's be activated and is there a chance one will be deactivated? For now, it seems like good fortune.

 

[Dahak]

Well windows also activates based on the hardware id of the computer. So if all that changed in the computer was the ssd, then it is using the previous activation.

The one problem with windows 10 activation is because of this digital entitlements, its hard to say if both of the machines are activated by the same "Key"

 

[Shlong]

Well windows also activates based on the hardware id of the computer. So if all that changed in the computer was the ssd, then it is using the previous activation.

The one problem with windows 10 activation is because of this digital entitlements, its hard to say if both of the machines are activated by the same "Key"

Q9550, no hardware changes at all, just fresh install of Windows 10 Pro. i7 2600K, no hardware changes but cloned the OS install from the Q9550 and reactivated through troubleshoot / linking Microsoft account. Maybe their activation servers see no hardware changes to Q9550 -> activated while i7 2600K it became activated through the troubleshooting?

 

[Linflas]

I had this same issue last weekend. My primary workstation was upgraded from Win 8.1 to Windows 10. I had a retail copy of Windows 8 floating around and forgot that was the original OS install on this machine so right before MS ended the free upgrades I used it to rebuild an older Dell Studio 17 XPS so that I could upgrade to Windows 10 Pro instead of upgrading the Win 7 Home Premium that came with the laptop. Fast forward to last weekend I upgraded this machine with a new motherboard, processor etc. and as expected after boot it came up needing reactivation. I tried to activate the way MS said it should work and kept getting the "activation servers down or unavailable" message so I opened a chat with MS. The CSR ended up using Belarc to pull the old license number which showed as a Win 8.1 Pro and did change product key and used that to reactivate. She saved the key in case I needed it in the future on the desktop but by then I was curious where this key came from so I grabbed the retail box in my laptop bag and there it was. So now I had 2 Windows 10 machines activated with the same key. I ended up buying a new key and changing the product key to get legal on this machine and left the Win 8 key with the laptop. The really odd part is that I then took the old motherboard that was in this machine and put it in my secondary machine and so far it has not required reactivation. It even upgraded to the Founders Edition today and it still remains activated.

 

[Red Hawk]

I used the same Windows 8 key to upgrade my PC and laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 8. Now, this was a key I got for free as part of being in my uni's IT program. So it may have been allowed to install on multiple PCs.

 

[nathanddrews]

I have a pile of Windows 7 Pro machines, all with OEM licenses that I have used and re-used to do clean installs of Windows 7 Pro and then upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. I have reused the same Windows 7 Pro keys on multiple machines (both the OEM machines and custom builds) and encountered no issues with Windows 10 Pro activation. It is my belief that Microsoft is simply being generous in an effort to increase the adoption of Windows 10, because this sort of activity was not nearly so easy on Windows 7, usually requiring me to call and talk to a human.

 

[dlerious]

Are those places that sell Win10 keys legit? The stupid scratch off that scratches the numbers and needing a magnifying glass to attempt to see them leaves me with the choice of another $140 and a hope I do better the second time around or purchasing just the key for significantly less.

 

[sm625]

It doesnt seem like microsoft cares anymore. They are probably expecting to make up lost revenue by selling your data. Facebook has taught them that your keystrokes are more valuable than a one time license fee.