You keep having Windows 10 because it’s already installed and you don’t want to switch.
You keep having Windows 10 because it’s already installed and you don’t want to switch.
I was relying on an outdated hard drive until it finally failed this year. After swapping it in and installing an SSD, which should be significantly quicker, I was puzzled to find that W10 remains enabled. Since I haven’t logged in yet, I was taken aback to see it functioning (instead of the activation watermark). Could this be because it’s a prebuilt version included with Windows? Also, when I changed the drive again, the same issue persisted—now I’m left wondering if this is typical?
I think they have a ready-made version. Prebuilt models come with keys stored in the EEPROM.
Your Microsoft account holds your activation code. Logging in with the same Windows system as before automatically re-activates it. Switching drives isn't enough to change the hardware and force a new key purchase. I upgraded from a 4870k to a 9900k, replacing the CPU, motherboard, RAM, but keeping the GPU and storage devices. It started up normally and ran without any issues.
Your setup details depend on whether your hardware is pre-assembled or custom-built. For pre-made products, the product code is embedded in the UEFI/BIOS chip. If you created the system yourself, the code is saved automatically. When using a Microsoft account, activation happens through Microsoft servers. To identify your device, you may use serial numbers linked to hardware parts. Your Microsoft account remains tied to the motherboard. If your system uses an OEM or System Builder license, replacing the board requires a new Windows license. Retail licenses can be transferred but are limited to one device at a time. Once activated on a new machine, older systems may deactivate automatically. Running both systems simultaneously risks activation conflicts and key issues. Avoid upgrading without re-entering the code if you don’t have a linked Microsoft account.