Windows 10: Reinstalling Windows 10 to another SSD in the same computer

Hello,


Windows 10 is installed on my SSD, however since it's full, I've bought a new one much larger in storage capacity. My question is, what is the correct procedure to install Windows 10 to the new SSD?


Here are a few details which might help to specify my situation and find an answer:

• I've originally bought a retail license for Windows 8.1 Pro and upgraded it to Windows 10 back in 2015. Now Windows is linked to my Microsoft account so I have a digital license.
• Windows has always been installed on my old SSD and I've never reinstalled it so far.
• I'd like to know what I should do to "move" Windows to the new SSD.
• I'd prefer to perform a clean install instead of cloning my current SSD.
• I've already created a bootable USB flash drive with the Media Creation Tool.

I've tried to research my problem and the closest match I could find was this question, however, I've also read articles such as this about transferring my license to another computer, so now I'm uncertain about what I should do and I also don't completely understand everything about the Windows license. Here are a few more detailed questions that, if answered, would help me out now and in the long run too:

1. Is it enough if I perform a clean install to the new SSD, move my files from the old SSD to the new one and then format the old SSD? If yes, will Windows recognise that I have a digital license and activate automatically or will I have to type in the original Windows 8.1 product key?
2. A more general question would be if the digital license is only connected to my account or is it bound to the system drive, the motherboard or something else as well? So theoretically could I install Windows 10 on a completely different computer, log in to my Microsoft account and have Windows activated?
3. In case what I've written in the 1st point isn't enough, do I have to follow the second article I've linked, i.e. remove the license, install Windows 10 on the new SSD, activate it with my original Windows 8.1 product key, move my files from the old SSD to the new one and then format the old SSD? If I have to do this, do I understand it correctly that I wouldn't be able to transfer the license any more afterwards, and I'd have to buy a new Windows 10 license instead? And this license could be transferred infinitely many times, right?
4. Also, what about hardware modifications? What would happen if I changed my motherboard, CPU, RAM and graphics card after the reinstall?
5. I have several programs installed on an HDD. After clean installing Windows on the new SSD, will I be able to use these programs or will I need to reinstall them?

I'm sorry my questions turned out to be so long, any answer is much much appreciated!

:)

 

How to reinstall Windows 10 if my computers used the free upgrade from 7 and 8?

Will windows 10 still accept the license keys from 7 and 8 now if I reinstall my computer?

Does Microsoft keep a list of users who upgraded to Win 10 using their 7 and 8 keys so that when users need to reinstall windows 10 the old keys would work?

Do I need to call in Microsoft to ask them to activate my Windows 10 when I give them my win 7 keys?

Both computers are laptops. The windows 7 machine had the serial printed on the back, and I needed to enter that when I upgraded to 10. The windows 8 machine had the serial built in inside its boot system so I didn't need to enter the key when I upgraded to 10, but I did manage to write down the keys using a fetcher program.

 

Reinstalling windows 10 on SSD

Step 1: Backup your important files:

• How to manually backup and restore your files

Step 2: create a new bootable copy of Windows 10. The Windows 10 USB you have is the original version of Windows 10 which quite outdated.

Step 1: How
to download official Windows 10 ISO files

Step 2:

• How
  to Prepare Bootable Install Media for Windows 10 - DVD, USB or SD Card

Step 3: Shutdown the computer, remove the HDD then install the SSD

Step 4: Perform a clean install.

• How to: Perform a clean install of Windows 10

When you upgraded from a previous version of Windows or receive a new computer preinstalled with Windows 10, what happened is the hardware (your PC) will get a digital entitlement, where a unique signature of the computer will be stored on Microsoft
Activation Servers. The Windows 7 or Windows 8 genuine license you were previously running will be exchanged for a diagnostics key.

Anytime you need to reinstall Windows 10 on that machine, just proceed to reinstall Windows 10. It will automatically reactivate. You will prompted to enter a product key a couple times through the installation, click I don't have
a key and Do this later.

There is no need to know or get a new key, but if you have issues with Digital Licensing or the Activation Troubleshooter, you can utilize an existing Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 product key you already own to
reactivate if necessary. or use the reset function in Windows 10.

Activate Your Windows 10 License via Microsoft Chat Support

 

[Solved] Windows 10 keeps reinstalling KB3119142

I noticed quite some time ago that KB3119142 (Update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Redistributable Package) kept reinstalling itself for some reason. At least once daily. Sometimes up to several times a day. I just ignored it. It didn't seem to be doing any harm. And I figured they'd eventually fix it. Well...days turned into weeks, weeks into months, with no end to the problem in sight. It dragged on unsolved for at least the last few months. Literally reinstalling itself hundreds of(at least a hundred, felt like more) times in that period of time.

So I finally googled it a couple days ago. And just got around to fixing it today. Which appears to have worked. And it couldn't have been easier to do. I feel so stupid to have let it intimidate me for so long.*Oops!

Below are links to the thread that I got the fix idea from, and the official MS support info page for KB3119142(from which I quoted the above).
http://www.tenforums.com/windows-up...-windows-10-keeps-reinstalling-kb3119142.html
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3119142