Will my windows license be safe?

[computerbuildin]

I've recently decided(or slimmed down) my choices of my new SSD to either be the samsung 840 pro 256 gb or the samsung 840 250 gb. The only difference between them is the 6 gb and a huge difference in write speeds. But anyway to the actual question, since im currently running with the only drive in my system as a 500 GB Caviar Blue WD, this is also my boot drive. And my plan is to first backup all my media/pictures/games etc all that stuff to an external hard drive. Then im going to format the 500 gb completely. The SSD will come into the picture here. From there its pretty easy. Just plug both of them in, insert the windows CD and when im going through the process I select my SSD as the holder for all the boot files and everything else. After going into windows im going to take everything from backup and put some of my games into the ssd and other things. Thats about it. But then the windows license comes in to play here. If i just wiped my drive, isnt that the holder of my windows license that says its my copy? I mean it would make sense that you cant just put in the license a second time. Ive heard so many things about this process and the windows license, and one guy even said he chatted with microsoft and they gave him a special code to put in so its a genuine copy.
Quick questions:
1. Will my windows license be safe?
2. What should I use to format? DBN?
3. Are these SSD's good picks (both of them, im still deciding between the two)
4. Is it ok to plug a 3 gb/s ssd in a 6 gb/s port on the motherboard? Its the only ports ive got left.

 

[Coup27]

1. OEM licences are tied to motherboards. This means if you have an OEM PC you can replace anything in the computer other than the motherboard, enter your licence key on a new installation and still be able to activate it without any issue. At worst you it may say you will have to call Microsoft for an activation code. This is not a daunting procedure at all. It consists of a call to an automated system where you enter in your installation code and then you are given an activation code to enter back into Windows. It is fully automated and takes about 5 minutes. If you have a retail copy of Windows, those licences are transferrable from machine to machine so there is no issue there either.

2. Use the Windows installation environment to perform your formatting.

3. They will both be fine, although you maybe able to pick up an 830 for less than those at the moment.

4. Yes it is, but but obviously make sure you have your SSD in one of those 6Gbps ports.

 

[Soulkeeper]

This is one reason I switched to gnu/linux around 8yrs ago.
I remember having to call MS and read the 64 digit code to a automated voice recognition system everytime I added hardware or reinstalled the OS.

 

[computerbuildin]

Thank you so much coup27 for the answers. Just a quick thing. Whats the "windows installation enviroment" you said to use to format?

 

[taltamir]

1. OEM licences are tied to motherboards. This means if you have an OEM PC you can replace anything in the computer other than the motherboard, enter your licence key on a new installation and still be able to activate it without any issue. At worst you it may say you will have to call Microsoft for an activation code. This is not a daunting procedure at all. It consists of a call to an automated system where you enter in your installation code and then you are given an activation code to enter back into Windows. It is fully automated and takes about 5 minutes. If you have a retail copy of Windows, those licences are transferrable from machine to machine so there is no issue there either.

This is not exactly accurate. What is tied to the motherboard is preactivated volume licenses which are often used by OEMs. So your windows install might actually have a different license key activated for it if it was preinstalled compared to the one written on the sticker on the PC itself.

As far as licensing goes, I have replacement motherboards and then when called MS I told them I replaced a mobo to repair the PC. They asked me how many PCs is it installed on, I said 1, and they let me activate it (it used to be non automated phone system back in the day where you talked to a person).

 

[tweakboy]

Also you talk about your 500GB hard drive. So don't you think you should image that drive and buy a 512GB SSD ... put image on it and off you go. gl

 

[taltamir]

Also you talk about your 500GB hard drive. So don't you think you should image that drive and buy a 512GB SSD ... put image on it and off you go. gl

512GB SSDs are kinda expensive

 

[computerbuildin]

I have thought about that but not only are they expensive, ive heard that copying your entire system over can make it so the ssd has some performance problems. And some other things that it should just be cleaned once in a while. I thought itd be better and easier to do this. Lets just hope at this point my OEM copy is tied to the MB. And to keep in mind, this is a computer I built. Im not upgrading a computer I bought if that makes a difference for licenses tied to it.

 

[mrpiggy]

I've had the same license for a retail copy of Win7 Home premium go through 3 different motherboards. All I've ever had to do is the slow-as-hell automated number/letter recital game over the phone and it's worked each time. never tried the OEM licenses, but the retail one definitely carries over if you swap things.

 

[Coup27]

This is not exactly accurate. What is tied to the motherboard is preactivated volume licenses which are often used by OEMs. So your windows install might actually have a different license key activated for it if it was preinstalled compared to the one written on the sticker on the PC itself.

Are you sure about this? I regularly repair peoples laptops for them which generally consist of me formatting it and doing a clean install. I never use the factory restore image and use an OEM Windows 7 install disc downloaded from Digital River and then the licence key on the bottom of the machine. This works every time and I've never had a problem. At worst I have had to call the automated system for a new activation code but that's all.

 

[taltamir]

Are you sure about this? I regularly repair peoples laptops for them which generally consist of me formatting it and doing a clean install. I never use the factory restore image and use an OEM Windows 7 install disc downloaded from Digital River and then the licence key on the bottom of the machine. This works every time and I've never had a problem. At worst I have had to call the automated system for a new activation code but that's all.

What you say is true but does not contradict what I said. The key at the bottom of the laptop on a sticker is an authentic OEM license key that might have never been used rather then a volume license key. The original preinstall that came with the laptop was most likely a non unique volume license key that is tied to a key in the bios (company related, eg, dell, HP, etc) and differs from the license key on the sticker, the BIOS identification allows it to be recognized as valid even though its the same key in thousands (or more) of machines.

The key on the sticker is unique and different, if everything goes right it will never be used in an actual install. The only time it ever needs to be used is if the customer is re-installing the OS. These non unique volume licenses tied to bios present a serious vulnerability in the activation process and are also the basis of win vista and 7 cracks.

 

[Coup27]

What you say is true but does not contradict what I said. The key at the bottom of the laptop on a sticker is an authentic OEM license key that might have never been used rather then a volume license key. The original preinstall that came with the laptop was most likely a non unique volume license key that is tied to a key in the bios (company related, eg, dell, HP, etc) and differs from the license key on the sticker, the BIOS identification allows it to be recognized as valid even though its the same key in thousands (or more) of machines.

The key on the sticker is unique and different, if everything goes right it will never be used in an actual install. The only time it ever needs to be used is if the customer is re-installing the OS. These non unique volume licenses tied to bios present a serious vulnerability in the activation process and are also the basis of win vista and 7 cracks.

Ah, I understand. That actually explains something I have always wondered; how OEMs get the licence keys into the AIK install without somebody having to sit there and type it out which I could not imagine for one second happens.

Either way OP, you won't have a problem changing your HDD and then reactivating with the licence key sticker.

Edit: "windows installation enviroment" - When you boot the Windows installation disc it will take you to a partition editor which will allow you to delete, edit, add and format partitions on your disks before you install Windows onto one of them. This is the ideal way to manage your partitions and formatting prior to installing.

 

[computerbuildin]

Thanks coup27 again for your help. Just wondering, isnt there 2 partitions? Off the top of my head arent they called, windows C and system reserve? Which ones do i delete? Both?

 

[taltamir]

Thanks coup27 again for your help. Just wondering, isnt there 2 partitions? Off the top of my head arent they called, windows C and system reserve? Which ones do i delete? Both?

delete for what? what are you trying to do?

 

[Coup27]

Thanks coup27 again for your help. Just wondering, isnt there 2 partitions? Off the top of my head arent they called, windows C and system reserve? Which ones do i delete? Both?

The way you should do this is:

1. Backup your 500GB HDD onto your external drive.

2. Remove your 500GB HDD from your system and only plug in your SSD.

3. Install Windows onto your SSD and get your system up and running. Drivers, updates, programs etc.

4. Then shut down and plug back in your 500GB HDD. Boot up, go into disk management and delete all of the partitions from your 500GB HDD. Then make a new one, the full size of the 500GB HDD in NTFS with a quick format. Then you will have a blank HDD to start again.


Windows 7's installation has been known to go a bit wrong when more than one drive is connected during the installation. If you just leave the SSD connected and the connect the HDD back later you will avoid these problems.

 

[computerbuildin]

The way you should do this is:

1. Backup your 500GB HDD onto your external drive.

2. Remove your 500GB HDD from your system and only plug in your SSD.

3. Install Windows onto your SSD and get your system up and running. Drivers, updates, programs etc.

4. Then shut down and plug back in your 500GB HDD. Boot up, go into disk management and delete all of the partitions from your 500GB HDD. Then make a new one, the full size of the 500GB HDD in NTFS with a quick format. Then you will have a blank HDD to start again.


Windows 7's installation has been known to go a bit wrong when more than one drive is connected during the installation. If you just leave the SSD connected and the connect the HDD back later you will avoid these problems.

I forgot about that, I remember reading up on how if you did it with both it actually ends up splitting windows between the two. So its actually fine if i booted in with 2 copies of windows? I mean itd be fine if I selected the ssd as my boot drive in the bios right? I think ive got it down now. Partitions just confuse me. Clear out all partitions in the HDD. And create a partition the size of the drive. Should be simple enough. Thanks everyone for your help

 

[Coup27]

So its actually fine if i booted in with 2 copies of windows? I mean itd be fine if I selected the ssd as my boot drive in the bios right?

Correct. Partitions shouldn't be confusing. What most people get confused about is they try and use a disk without a partition. Without a partition, the disk is unallocated. When it is unallocated it cannot be used. When people say "I don't want any partitions" what they mean is they want a single partition the whole size of the disk. Then you add a file system (format in NTFS) and then you have a single partition, the whole size of the disk. If that's what you want, use disk management to delete both the previous C partition and the system reserved and anything else which is on the disk. Then the whole disk will be unallocated. Then make a single partition the whole size, format, and done.

 

[taltamir]

So its actually fine if i booted in with 2 copies of windows?

yes, but only as long as you disconnected all but the one drive you were installing windows to each time for the duration of the install.
Once you have a proper, not split up installation on a single drive (HDD or SSD), you can plug both of them and select in bios which one to boot from.

 

[computerbuildin]

I know i havent replied in a little bit but something came up. I remembered I had to set it to AHCI in the bios which im pretty sure I have, ill check tomarrow. But if I have both the ssd and hdd AHCI will be fine? Because ive seen different settings all over.

 

[kmmatney]

Ah, I understand. That actually explains something I have always wondered; how OEMs get the licence keys into the AIK install without somebody having to sit there and type it out which I could not imagine for one second happens.

Either way OP, you won't have a problem changing your HDD and then reactivating with the licence key sticker.

Edit: "windows installation enviroment" - When you boot the Windows installation disc it will take you to a partition editor which will allow you to delete, edit, add and format partitions on your disks before you install Windows onto one of them. This is the ideal way to manage your partitions and formatting prior to installing.

Before I upgraded to Windows 8, I had to reactivate my Windows 7 after just about any HW upgrade or change. I once temporarily connected a hard drive, and when windows started it said I did not have a genuine copy. After removing the drive, windows went back to normal. I was on my second motherboard by then, but had also made a few cpu and memory changes in-between. But it got to the point where I was calling up Microsoft to re-activate for just about any change.

This was one of my reasons for going with Windows 8 - I got the $39 retail upgrade version from Microcenter. I'll be pissed if they make me feel like a criminal for upgrading my computer all the time.

 

[Coup27]

I remembered I had to set it to AHCI in the bios which im pretty sure I have, ill check tomarrow. But if I have both the ssd and hdd AHCI will be fine? Because ive seen different settings all over.

You cannot have individual settings for different drives. When you choose AHCI, RAID or IDE (compatible), then all the SATA ports and anything connected to them will function in this mode. Setting the SATA mode to AHCI will make both the SSD and the HDD run in AHCI which is what you want.

 

[Coup27]

Before I upgraded to Windows 8, I had to reactivate my Windows 7 after just about any HW upgrade or change. I once temporarily connected a hard drive, and when windows started it said I did not have a genuine copy. After removing the drive, windows went back to normal. I was on my second motherboard by then, but had also made a few cpu and memory changes in-between. But it got to the point where I was calling up Microsoft to re-activate for just about any change.

This was one of my reasons for going with Windows 8 - I got the $39 retail upgrade version from Microcenter. I'll be pissed if they make me feel like a criminal for upgrading my computer all the time.

I am not sure what you did prior to getting into this position but it's certainly not the norm. I have swapped our HDDs, SSDs, and CPUs without ever having to reactivate and I read an article from an MS rep once who said you will only have to reactivate with a motherboard change.