Win10 upgrade / clean install type question

[mikeymikec]

Let's say you have a Win7 machine. You use the offer to upgrade to Win10. Then the disk dies and you have to replace it with a new one.

I assume that if you simply ran Win10 setup on that machine with a new disk, it would then ask you for a product key (and if you didn't grab the product key before the disk died, you would need to buy a Win10 licence). The only possible exception in that scenario is with a UEFI machine whereby the Win10 product key was stored in the BIOS, in which case the setup program would pick up on that and allow you to install Win10 without asking for a product key.

Is what I'm saying correct?

 

[Ketchup]

Let me see if I am answering your question:

A hard drive has never been considered enough of a change to affect the product key, even with the change in activation parameters that came with 10. And since it already has your hardware profile for activation, that PC should automatically activate after the re-install, new hard drive notwithstanding.

So, as long as it activated on the previous drive, don't enter a product key when you re-install (10) on the new drive, and it should pick it up automatically.

Now, if it didn't activate before the crash, you are looking at the same options you had previously: install 7 and let it upgrade, or install 10 with the key from 7.

 

[mikeymikec]

I think we're on the same page So on a pre-UEFI machine that had Win10 installed and activated on, Win10 setup would ask for a product key on installation for the new disk, but that's skippable and then Windows will activate automatically when it connects to the Internet?

 

[nerp]

Yep. After that first upgrade, you never have to worry about a product key again. It's married to W10 -- the motherboard.

In fact, MS had made it so that if you download the latest ISO and make a disc or bootable USB installer key, you can type in Windows 7 and 8.1 license keys during the first install -- a clean install. You don't even have to do the upgrade within the OS you're upgrading from anymore. But if you just want to fire up the upgrade, walk away, come back and you're ready to go and can either install the OS fresh or pop in a new HD(ideally SSD) and you're good to go. No problems.

 

[Ketchup]

I think we're on the same page So on a pre-UEFI machine that had Win10 installed and activated on, Win10 setup would ask for a product key on installation for the new disk, but that's skippable and then Windows will activate automatically when it connects to the Internet?

I have a laptop that I can test this on (pre-uefi, had Windows 10 before I did a factory reset) so I can test this to be sure. I know people on the forums have mentioned being able to do it, but I don't know if they were pre-uefi machines. It has a slow hard drive in it ATM, so it will take a little while.

 

[Ketchup]

OK mikeymikec. Did a clean install on the Lenovo G650 (loaded a flash drive with the media creation tool this morning) and by the time I got to the desktop and pulled up the System page, it was activated. No key numbers entered. Very slick.

 

[Bird222]

Hell, I changed mb, cpu and ram and kept the same hd and windows stayed activated.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I did just this, IIRC, on an older Core2 E3300 / G41 machine.

It was running an older install of Win7 64-bit on a 500GB HDD.

I use the MS MCT to download an ISO, (don't remember if I used a USB or the DVD drive, I think I used the DVD), initiated the upgrade from within Win7 64-bit.

Once the upgrade had completed, and rebooted, etc., and was running, I checked the activation. It was activated in Win10.

I then powered down, disconnected the HDD SATA cable, plugged in a PCI-E SATA6G controller card, and attached a (refurb) 120GB Corsair SSD to the SATA6G card. (Mobo ports were only SATA2.)

I then did a clean install of Win10 Home 64-bit onto the SSD (skip product key), and when it was done, after I connected to the internet, it was activated.

I then plugged the HDD cable back in (after powering off), powered back up, and formatted the HDD. (Full format, so that it would be wiped completely.)

Thus, I ended up with an activated Win10 Home 64-bit on the SSD, with a 500GB HDD for data storage on a mobo SATA2 port.

Fairly straightforward.

I don't believe that this mobo sported a UEFI BIOS, but I don't think that makes much difference to what I did.