OEM Windows 7 - Windows 10 install on a new SSD
OEM Windows 7 - Windows 10 install on a new SSD
Are you alone in finding legal installation of Windows 10 challenging? You own an OEM Windows 7 and plan to switch to Windows 10. Your goal is to set it up on a new m.2 SATA 240GB SSD soon. I’ve heard that changing to a different machine and turning off the old version isn’t feasible with an OEM copy, even though others said it was okay. Is there a specific change that makes a system count as “new”? A fresh hard drive? A new motherboard? I assumed it was the board but didn’t face any issues using the same genuine Windows 7 copy with a different board. Any advice?
A fresh disk shouldn't pose an issue for OEM activation, at least I'm not aware of any such concerns. It's usually not recommended to copy an HDD to an SSD since Windows sets up differently for SSD performance. Cloning isn't typically needed anyway. A new motherboard often serves as a test for a "new machine," and I've heard people obtain OEM licenses to activate on new boards over the phone. I haven't personally encountered it working, but it would be great if it did. I'm expecting a new Z170 board this weekend, which is encouraging.
I don’t recall exactly if I called to turn on the new motherboard and OS. I did call earlier to verify everything was fine.