BinaryData Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 1 minute ago, Javik said: If your Windows 10 key is a retail key that can be used on more than one computer, it still works. I have some Windows 7 keys that I've activated on more than one machine, and Windows 10 upgrades still worked for them. Let's get this straight for the record... OEM - Comes on a pre-built PC (Dell/Lenovo/HP, etc..) - Can only be used once to upgrade. Retail - Purchased separately from the PC - Can be used MULTIPLE times. MSDNAA - Will find out later and post back. I'll use my old Windows 7 64bit Key, and try to install/activate Windows. Thankfully, someone was kind enough to give me a Windows 7 Key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I know, nothing you've said there conflicted with what I put. All of the keys I was using were retail keys that I've used more than once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 1 minute ago, Javik said: I know, nothing you've said there conflicted with what I put. All of the keys I was using were retail keys that I've used more than once. I quoted you by mistake. Haha. I just wanted to make a reference for those who end up searching this post. I'd personally, like to see a post where someone writes a PDF Tutorial on how to upgrade. Every section be covered. Pictures and all. Some people are just blatant idgits, while some people can do it without having to look anything up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiHu Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 6 minutes ago, BinaryData said: OEM - Comes on a pre-built PC (Dell/Lenovo/HP, etc..) - Can only be used once to upgrade. Not always. I can order an OEM key right now online. I can also walk to the IT store that is like 15 minutes from home and buy it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Just now, BinaryData said: I quoted you by mistake. Haha. I just wanted to make a reference for those who end up searching this post. I'd personally, like to see a post where someone writes a PDF Tutorial on how to upgrade. Every section be covered. Pictures and all. Some people are just blatant idgits, while some people can do it without having to look anything up. Ah, fair enough Just now, da00 said: Not always. I can order an OEM key right now online. I can also walk to the IT store that is like 15 minutes from home and buy it there. It's against Microsoft's licensing terms to sell OEM keys without qualifying hardware, and I'm pretty sure they also closed the loophole that allowed you to bypass it by packaging it with some useless old modem or network card. Having refurbished computers myself I can tell you that OEM and refurbishment licenses are even more restrictive in their usage terms than retail licenses. Citizenship licenses, for example, are OEM licenses specifically designed for charitable and education use, they can't even be sold for normal use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiHu Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Just now, Javik said: Ah, fair enough It's against Microsoft's licensing terms to sell OEM keys without qualifying hardware, and I'm pretty sure they also closed the loophole that allowed you to bypass it by packaging it with some useless old modem or network card. Having refurbished computers myself I can tell you that OEM and refurbishment licenses are even more restrictive in their usage terms than retail licenses. Citizenship licenses, for example, are OEM licenses specifically designed for charitable and education use, they can't even be sold for normal use. OEM keys from what I understand from my own personal experiences with them here is that it is bound to the hardware, if you do any major hardware changes the key will go invalid. Can order them freely online from various places in sweden and some that has normal storefronts it can also be picked up physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 2 minutes ago, Javik said: Ah, fair enough It's against Microsoft's licensing terms to sell OEM keys without qualifying hardware, and I'm pretty sure they also closed the loophole that allowed you to bypass it by packaging it with some useless old modem or network card. Having refurbished computers myself I can tell you that OEM and refurbishment licenses are even more restrictive in their usage terms than retail licenses. Citizenship licenses, for example, are OEM licenses specifically designed for charitable and education use, they can't even be sold for normal use. That's why I said what I said. Not to mention, how many people do you know, that know the difference between OEM and Retail? I mean, honestly here. We're talking about above average computer users who are going to be upgrading a HDD. 95% of the people I know just buy external HDDs when they want more space. Not ONE of them thinks about upgrading their HDD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 3 minutes ago, da00 said: OEM keys from what I understand from my own personal experiences with them here is that it is bound to the hardware, if you do any major hardware changes the key will go invalid. Can order them freely online from various places in sweden and some that has normal storefronts it can also be picked up physically. When I refer to OEM I mean the ultra cheap licenses supplied to PC manufacturers that can't be sold on to a third party. The OEM licenses you can buy online are still technically OEM licenses, but in the UK they cost £79 for home which is still substantially more pricey than the OEM licenses supplied to PC builders. I didn't really word my post very well though, sorry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiHu Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 5 minutes ago, Javik said: When I refer to OEM I mean the ultra cheap licenses supplied to PC manufacturers that can't be sold on to a third party. The OEM licenses you can buy online are still technically OEM licenses, but in the UK they cost £79 for home which is still substantially more pricey than the OEM licenses supplied to PC builders. I didn't really word my post very well though, sorry about that. Ah yes, now I'm following. And yes the "OEM" ones usually cheaper alternative here as well, compared to retail that is, the downfall is the 1 time useage, and that if you are planning on updating CPU/MOBO sometimes soon you willl need to get a new key whereas with retail you should be able to reuse it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Just now, da00 said: Ah yes, now I'm following. And yes the "OEM" ones usually cheaper alternative here as well, compared to retail that is, the downfall is the 1 time useage, and that if you are planning on updating CPU/MOBO sometimes soon you willl need to get a new key whereas with retail you should be able to reuse it. Yeah, even the expensive OEM keys here are still cheaper than full retail keys. I do have plenty of Windows 7 licenses available, but I'm probably going to have to buy a new key if I ever do a new build thanks to the expiration of the offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ir0nw0lf Subscriber² Posted January 13, 2016 Subscriber² Share Posted January 13, 2016 7 minutes ago, Javik said: The OEM licenses you can buy online are still technically OEM licenses, but in the UK they cost £79 for home which is still substantially more pricey than the OEM licenses supplied to PC builders. I didn't really word my post very well though, sorry about that. Those are from the OEM System Builder Channel. That's to help differentiate it from the "royalty" OEM versions that HP/Dell/etc have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegoat1996 Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 (edited) I ran across this same question when building a pc recently. I took my SSD out of my old tower, that originally had Windows 7, free upgrade to Win 10, I had signed on with my Microsoft account prior to swapping, and was trying to find info if I could just take my SSD from my old tower to my new MOBO, hardware, etc. And for me, YES, it works. I had to sign onto my Microsoft account to activate. It shows Windows 10 is activated and I didn't have to perform a clean install or buy a new Windows 10 key. Once authenticated with my Microsoft account, I switched back to a local account and it still shows authenticated. It does show up as a digital signature license, not sure what that is exactly, but it does work. I kept reading different things on this topic before I simply tried to take a Windows 10 installed SSD from an older AMD MOBO to a new Intel MOBO but it has been a very smooth process and all drivers, updates, etc. transitioned flawlessly for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaGinger Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 (edited) I have just upgraded to a Z290 motherboard and CPU and it would not activate. If its for the free upgrade then it wont its linked to a digital account.. There are 2 things to do. On the activation page you can do a Changed Hardware which will take you to your Microsoft account and follow the directions or like me buy a genuine licence for just over 3 quid and use that code for activation. Before any says it, it is Genuine. And I also bought a genuine Office 2016 for just over 8, so no brainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 On 1/13/2016 at 9:27 AM, Javik said: Ah, fair enough It's against Microsoft's licensing terms to sell OEM keys without qualifying hardware, and I'm pretty sure they also closed the loophole that allowed you to bypass it by packaging it with some useless old modem or network card. Having refurbished computers myself I can tell you that OEM and refurbishment licenses are even more restrictive in their usage terms than retail licenses. Citizenship licenses, for example, are OEM licenses specifically designed for charitable and education use, they can't even be sold for normal use. No - said loophole no longer applies to Windows 8 or later (due to use of a different licensing schema). The so-called "citizenship licenses" are unique to charitable and educational usage (such as the Maryland Technology Advancement Program - jointly operated by the Maryland Workforce Technology Center and the state Department of Education - which refurbishes donated PCs for the use of the student-clients of the former, mostly by the students themselves). There are specific variants of the OEM license for virtual machines, for example (again, those specifically apply to Windows 8 and later). If you are an Insider, you can use the 10-machine limit that applies to Insider usage (that is, in fact, what I have been doing with machines that I refurbish that meet the Windows 10 hardware standard); the surprise is exactly how wide that physical-hardware range-gate actually is - especially when it comes to notebooks and laptops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnoopZ Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 (edited) Not sure if the OPS question is sorted, but you may NOT need to purchase another key, i had a similar issue where my motherboard or CPU died, so i purchased a new Motherboard and CPU and as expected my Windows 10 digital key didn't activate which i got from a Windows 8 free upgrade. To sort my problem out i contacted MS support online, all i did was prove that i had the original Windows 8 key by pasting it to them and also show them proof of the Motherboard and CPU purchase email, they asked why i replaced the motherboard, i said it was faulty which was the truth although obviously they couldn't prove otherwise. They then asked to connect to the PC and they reactivated it for me with a key and posted the key to me on my desktop so i could save it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 (edited) On 1/12/2016 at 3:31 AM, devHead said: Actually, if you install Windows 10 clean on the PC with the new motherboard, the activation will not take. What you'll need to do (and I might be wrong), is to install Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 with a valid key, then install Windows 10 as an upgrade. After it activates Windows 10 on the new PC, you can go back, wipe it out, and install Windows 10 clean on that new machine. But your Windows 10 activation is tied to both your login and your unique machine ID, which will change with something as substantial as a new motherboard. I processed a similar item this weekend for my dad on my old 2600k hardware, and the previously used W7 retail key activated totally fine. you dont need to do the w7 presetup, install W10 right off the bat works with any retail keys still, previously upgraded or not. 1 windows 7 Home premium retail key, that was used to do an inplace upgrade at release on the old hardware of his previous PC. I then built a new machine (so new mobo, chip, ram, hard drives) in W10 setup i entered the Windows 7 home prem key....and it was activated when Windows was complete. I was prepared to purchase a new W10 key for him, as I thought id have the issues you have stated, but no (i was surprised tbh) no microsoft account involved at any stage of the process. I dont think Microsoft give a hoot , as it still accepts a W7/8/8.1 key to install W10 as a bare metal install, no upgrade actions required. +devHead 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 (edited) On 1/12/2016 at 3:52 AM, jnelsoninjax said: As I stated: I have a Win 7 key, but it was 'used' when I upgraded to 10. So I guess I need to purchase a key when/if I replace the motherboard? No, if it was a retail W7 key (aka it came in the box with the DVD inside along with your COA) it will activate on the new hardware perfectly well mate even if a) you do a clean install on the new kit from the w10 media kit b) its been used on other hardware to activate windows 7 or 10 for that matter. c) doesnt need you to use the Microsoft account, it works like legacy upgrades. Ironically, to investigate further, I then took a used retail key and tried to install w7 on yet another bit of hardware and that also activated perfectly fine........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooky560 Veteran Posted March 12, 2017 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2017 I've seen a few people suggest that the key is tied to the MS account, does that mean us people who don't have or want an MS account will have problems upgrading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted March 12, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted March 12, 2017 Thread is a bit too old to resurrect. Please open a new thread. Thanks. Danielx64 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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