Windows 10: Reinstalling Windows with an OEM License

A friend wants to switch from a hard drive to an SSD on her HP laptop, which of these three would be feasible with carrying over her OEM license? It's Windows 10 Home.

1. Installing Windows to the SSD fresh, activating with the OEM license/key (preferred).
2. Copying over the recovery partition from the hard drive and letting it set Windows back up.
3. Copying the hard drive as-is to the SSD.

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:)

 

Question On OEM Windows clean install......

"Flavors" of Windows licenses

Windows can be a little "odd" about license keys. There are at least 4 categories:

• Retail
• OEM
• Volume (electronic download)
• Corporate (no key needed)

For guaranteed success, the license key and media should be in the same category. If you have retail media, you may not be able to install it using an OEM or Volume license key, even though the key is valid for that version of Windows. *Wtf :wtf: Apparently, this is part of Microsoft's anti-piracy scheme (i.e., all customers are guilty until proven innocent).

 

Windows 10 OEM Licensing

Hi

I have a few questions about windows 10 OEM licensing:

1. Is OEM licensing acceptable for business use?
2. What restrictions does OEM licensing have other than the transfer rights?
3. Can the OS be reloaded without breaching the license agreement, and if so, can I also replace the HDD with an SSD?
4. What other hardware upgrades can be done under OEM licensing?
5. What would be a breach of OEM licensing?
6. What benefits would a business get if they move to Microsoft 365 vs OEM?

Thanks in advace

 

How to reinstall and reactivate Windows 10 with an OEM license

Before you continue, I suggest you remove the bloatware by the Control Panel and uninstalling the junk. That is faster and easier, with less potential for problems, but the steps for reinstallation are as follows:

Before you do anything, backup valuable data, if any, on some form of media (i.e. USB) so you can move it onto the reinstalled Windows.

1. Download the appropriate ISO file from Microsoft and burn it to a CD or use it with a bootable USB.
   
2. (Optional if you have no internet) Download all the appropriate drivers for your machine and save them on media for later access.
   
3. Locate the product key on your machine. It is usually under the laptop on a sticker, and if not, use special software to locate it. This will be used during the reinstallation. Note that PCs sometimes auto-activate if it is in the BIOS so this step is not needed if this is case.
   
4. Boot from the bootable media (disc or USB). Continue as usual through the installation, and when the partitions screen comes up, format the current Windows partition and install in there. (The Recovery partition can be deleted, but I recommend keeping it so if anything goes wrong you can restore to factory settings). If the key doesn't work you may need to contact Microsoft and activate over phone.
   
5. After installation, install the drivers and run Windows Update and you're done.