Windows 10: Changing my MOBO etc. will that KILL my W10?

Hi,

Yes, I forgot to add that. AFAIK no UEFI system can boot straight off of a NTFS file system unless UEFI contains conversion drivers in ROM.
EFI does not care about partitions being set to "Active" or not.In fact I very much doubt it will then boot when "Secure Boot" is enabled in EFI.

Cheers, *Wink

 

My thumb drives do double duty, UEFI and Legacy. My old beater desktop PC won't boot from them if I don't mark them as active. *Wink

 

I want to THANK U ALL for taking the time and trying to HELP a "neighbor" ..... me and the good fella that will do the install for me are grateful !
michael

 

Why? because when I used the Microsoft Media creation tool to create the USB boot disk it did not do the UEFI method to install.. It went with a MBR and BIOS install..
So I looked up why this would happen found that using Rufus with a Microsoft ISO file was a way to work around this issue.I also find that Microsoft will ONLY let you download the Media creation tool if you access the download page via a normal windows machine. I like a bit more control over what I am doing so I used Chrome UA spoofer to tell Microsoft I was on an android device. This then took me to the direct ISO download page and I was able to then download the ISO file I wanted..
I used this ISO with Rufus to create a working UEFI Windows 10 Install USB boot disk.
Are there other ways? possibly sure..There are many Guides out there on how to install Windows 10 on a PC I was not trying to write a guide, but to give some insights into what worked for me.

The main take away is as long as you have your Current windows installation tied to your Microsoft account then you can activate it on any new PC hardware swap.. No need to buy a new or Retail licences for hardware upgrade.

How you get there is up to you..

 

Hi,

Using this tool is so much easier:

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/techno...-download-tool

Cheers , *Wink

 

So: "If you've already added your Microsoft account to your device, you'll see Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account on the Activation page."

This is true in my case. IF understand the gist of what I have been told here...I think it is the consensus that I may be able to get by using my resent install of W10 we though we will be replacing the mobo CPU.....is this CORRECT?

Do you think it would be wise to purchase a Retail Copy of W10 Home, just in case, and then IF we don't have to use it I can return it for refund afterwards?

TKS michael

 

@orbeavhawk,

Since you have a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, you should be able to use this to activate Windows 10 on a new motherboard/CPU:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...troubleshooter
Click on the link for "You recently made a significant hardware change"

and
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530

I would not purchase a Windows 10 Home retail "just in case". If you can't activate it right away using the activation troubleshooter, then just use it without activation until you can either contact Microsoft and get them to activate it for you or purchase a product key.

 

There is no maybe about it.. If you have "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account "
Then your Windows 10 is linked to your login ID it will follow whatever PC you use that login on to do the Windows 10 Install.

When this won't work

There are situations where the process won't work:

• The installed copy of Windows does not match the edition the digital license is linked to.
• The type of device does not match the type of device the license is linked to.
• Windows was never activated on the device.
• You reached the limit of re-activations on the device.

You can not activate Windows 10 Pro if your license is for Windows 10 Home ect...

When reinstalling Windows 10 after a hardware change–especially a motherboard change–be sure to skip the “enter your product key” prompts while installing it.

Whats the re-activation Limit? 10
how to check the number of devices linked? : Manage Your Microsoft Account in One Place
Login and go to Devices Tab here to can manage the Devices linked to your Microsoft Login ID and delete any that you no longer use/own.

 

Where did you get 10 from? Memebers on here have experimented with it and found the limit to the transfers of a digital license to be 3.

 

See this thread Replacing Motherboard Questions - Solved - Windows 10 Forums

And specifically the post quoted below from @NavyLCDR in that thread about creating a bootable USB.