Windows 10: How to change W11 OEM license to a different drive on same computer?

Hello,I've recently changed my W11 installation drive from an HDD connected via SATA to an SSD connected via PCIe so as to be much faster. I did this by simply cloning the entire drive; it's an exact copy.I can boot from it fine, but booting from the new SSD installation has the following error message:"We can't activate Windows on this device because the product key was already used on another device. If you think it wasn't used on another device, select Troubleshoot below. Error code: 0xC004C008"Selecting Troubleshoot says it can't reactivate the license, but does provide a "I recently c

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How to change W11 OEM license to a different drive on same computer?

Hello, this is Emily.

The problem here is your Windows is still activated on the old drive. Wiping it down won't erase your OEM license, because OEM license is on the motherboard, not on the drive.

You can either wipe it down, or disconnect the HDD, then start over your clean install, it should automatically activate your Windows in that case.

 

Windows OEM License

Formatting the SSD is not an issue and the OEM license will work no matter how many times windows is installed. Changing the SSD is different since the OEM license is bound to the original hardware. Different manufacturer's have different views on what is considered as the original hardware. Some consider changing the motherboard as changing the hardware which means a new license will be required while some detect changing the primary hard drive and will cause activation issues with OEM licenses.