Windows 10: Moving to new computer - activation question

I have a PC with Windows 10 Pro. I activated this Windows with a product key that I got over the phone from Microsoft because it was not possible to activate Windows 10 after upgrading from Windows 8.1.

In my Windows 10 Pro settings it says under Activation "Windows is activated using your organization's activation service." (What does that mean?) At least in this Activation window it is not possible to link my Windows 10 license to my Microsoft account although I am using this Microsoft account to log into the computer.

Now comes the interesting part. Something is wrong with my motherboard - it sometimes does and sometimes does not recognize my RAM (I'm sure it is the motherboard because this happens with my old RAM and also with new RAM that I bought because I thought the old RAM might be faulty). I therefore bought a new PC. This PC does not have any Windows installed.

Will I be able to move my Windows 10 license from the old PC to the new PC, and do I have to do this in a specific way?

Thanks for your help!

Greetings -

:)

 

moving to a new pc account question

When I upgrade a preinstalled (OEM) or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 license to Windows 10, does that license remain OEM or become a retail license?

If you upgrade from a OEM or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to the free Windows 10 upgrade this summer, the license is consumed into it. Because the free upgrade is derived from the base qualifying license, Windows 10 will carry that licensing
too.

If you upgrade from a retail version, it carries the rights of a retail version.

If you upgrade from a OEM version, it carries the rights of a OEM version.

Full version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- Doesn't require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive

Upgrade version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive, but cheaper than full version

OEM :

OEM versions of Windows are identical to Full License Retail versions except for the following:

- OEM versions do not offer any free Microsoft direct support from Microsoft support personnel

- OEM licenses are tied to the very first computer you install and activate it on

- OEM versions allow all hardware upgrades except for an upgrade to a different model motherboard

- OEM versions cannot be used to directly upgrade from an older Windows operating system

What happens if I change my motherboard?

As it pertains to the OEM license this will invalidate the Windows 10 upgrade license because it will no longer have a previous base qualifying license which is required for the free upgrade. You will then have to purchase a full retail
Windows 10 license. If the base qualifying license (Windows 7 or Windows 8.1) was a full retail version, then yes, you can transfer it.


From the Windows 10 end user license agreement:

b. Stand-alone software. If you acquired the software as stand-alone software (and also if you upgraded from software you acquired as stand-alone software), you may transfer the software to another device that belongs to you. You may also
transfer the software to a device owned by someone else if (i) you are the first licensed user of the software and (ii) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. You may use the backup copy we allow you to make or the media that the software came
on to transfer the software. Every time you transfer the software to a new device, you must remove the software from the prior device. You may not transfer the software to share licenses between devices.

This means you will need to purchase a new Windows 10 license.

 

moving to a new pc account question

hello, after 5 years of good service i've made up my mind to change my old i5 to a new ryzen rig. I have several questions regarding my licences.

I've upgraded from win 8.1 oem to 10, do i have to purchase a new windows 10 license or is it still linked to my microsoft account and i can use it with the new ryzen platform ?

I've bough several games from the windows store, are they tied to my current win 10 licence or to my microsoft account, which mean i may loose them if i buy a new licence ?

***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***

 

Open a command prompt (admin) (Win + X will bring up a list and Command Prompt [admin] will be in the list).

In the window run:
slmgr /dlv

Please post the results here. It sounds like you are activated with a KMS type activation which is reserved for corporations using volume licensing and there should have been no way Microsoft would have given you that.

 

The result is a picture (the text cannot be copied). It is here attached with partially blurred numbers.

I definitely got the product key over the phone from Microsoft directly. With that product key I could activate Windows 10 Pro. The "partial product key" in the picture is not part of the product key that I got.

 

You blanked out half the info what is the IP of the kms server is it a PC on your network. Kms if not on a corporate network is normally a pirate copy

 

Yes, I blurred some numbers because I do not understand what they mean and how "private" they are. However, I swear that I bought Windows 8 (for money, from Microsoft directly), and when I could not activate Windows 10 after the upgrade I called Microsoft, talked for quite a while to a guy whom seemed to be slightly overwhelmed and then in the end gave me a new product key which I then used to activate Windows successfully.

I did not steal or pirate Windows 8 or Windows 10.

Would it make sense that I run a Whois on the KMS machine IP address?

 

... attached a screen shot from my WhoIs query.

 

Do you still have your Windows 8 product key? I would run it through the "check product key" function of showkey on this forum:
ShowKeyPlus

If it is for Windows 8 Pro and not a volume license key (it is either Retail or OEM), then I would try changing your current Windows 10 product key to the Windows 8 Product key.

Your current version of Windows 10 appears to be illegally activated.
@Superfly might recognize the -T83** Windows 10 Pro product key. I'm at work and googling it yields a couple of hits to pirating websites that I am not going to access from work.

There is nothing uniquely identifying in the result of slmgr /dlv. You can post the entire result. My complete results are posted several times in this forum.

 

Thanks. Yes, I do still have the Windows 8 key and will check on that later.

 

Found it on my phone, @Superfly, what do you know about product key?:
W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX

Got it:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...(v=ws.11).aspx

Your computer was previously activated with KMS - which is a volume license activation method reserved for corporations. Pirates use a KMS activation workaround to illegally activate Windows. The "technician" you spoke to saw the KMS activation and provided you with the product key specified in the link above.

The question remains - why were you on KMS activation to begin with? 2+2 is only adding up to 3 here - there is a piece missing somewhere.

 

Maybe he wasn't really talking to Microsoft? Lots of fake sites with fake tech support numbers out there.

 

"I activated this Windows with a product key that I got over the phone from Microsoft because it was not possible to activate Windows 10 after upgrading from Windows 8.1. "

^^Where did you get said phone number?^^

 

That was my suspicion.

 

OK, here is my timeline:

1) I bought Windows 8 from Microsoft (still have the receipt). I got, of course, a product key for it.
2) I installed and activated Windows 8, upgraded at one point to Windows 8.1. No problem with activation.
3) I upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 but Windows 10 did not activate successfully.
4) I called Microsoft (by that I mean: Microsoft) and talked to someone.
5) That someone gave me - after checking on my Windows 8 product key and not being able to find out why my upgrade would not activate - a new product key with which I could activate Windows 10.


That is the whole story about my Windows 10 installation and activation.

Both my original Windows 8 product key and the Windows 10 product key that I got later are completely different than W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX.