Windows 10: replacing laptop HDD with SSD after W10 upgrade

replacing laptop HDD with SSD after W10 upgrade and activation

If I clean install W10 to the new SSD, will Windows activate automatically.....

thanks

:)

 

Reinstalling OS - Upgrading from W7=>W10 after July29

I have upgraded my W7Pro Laptop to W10Pro already, but next week need to replace the HDD with an SSD.

My question is; what will happen when I reinstall W7 and try to Upgrade to W10 as it will be after July29. Am I still eligble for the free upgrade?

 

Subsequent reinstallation of W10 after upgrade

I have a slow HPG61 410SA running W7 and will be upgrading to W10 when available, but at some point I also want to replace my HDD with a SSD to make the laptop run faster. When I replace the HDD I am thinking of doing some sort of clean install to remove
old programs etc that the laptop has picked up over the years and slowed it down.

If I do the W10 upgrade on 29 July and then subsequently (say six months later) swap my HDD for a blank SSD. will I be able to install a new clean version of W10? Do I get some sort of install key, that then allows me to reinstall again, multiple times if
necessary?

Or perhaps it would be better to swap the HDD for a new SSD first? With a blank SSD put in the laptop would I be able to do a clean install of W7, then later upgrade that to W10?

Does the upgrade from W7 to W10 in itself kind of clean up my machine? Is there an option to 'upgrade and wipe' so that I basically get my old hardware running as if it were a totally clean new W10 machine?

I'm not very technical so feel free to explain in simple terms

 

Yes. Replacing any device except the mother board will not affect activation.

 

Thanks, does MS store some sort of code based on the hardware matched to IP address ? just wondered how it works

 

Hi there

I don't think even the CIA, Deuxieme Bureau, Russian security service or even the Mossad know how activation works these days -- although it seems to be based on some sort of Digital signature when you read the literature coming from Ms.

I've re-installed the same W10 system (from new) on to a laptop in Iceland, Belgium and the UK and no problems with activation so it's not IP address based.

Cheers
jimbo

 

When Windows boots, each time it creates a Hardware ID based upon a whole bunch of different factors/hardware serial numbers that go into a formula. The formula is weighted so that only a motherboard change is supposed to trigger a new Hardware ID. All the other factors are used to only make each computer's Hardware ID different from each others. When you first upgraded to Windows 10, the previous OS activation was used to activate Windows 10. When that happened, the Hardware ID and digital entitlement for Windows 10 was stored on Microsoft activation servers.

After the initial upgrade, when Windows 10 starts (and probably periodically while running), Windows calculates the Hardware ID. As long as the Hardware ID remains unchanged and Windows 10 was previously activated, it stays activated.

When you do a clean install of Windows 10, there is no previous activation to activate Windows 10 with. So it calculates the Hardware ID, sends that information to Microsoft activation servers which match it to the stored digital entitlement and that is returned to activate the Windows 10. Then upon each startup, Windows 10 calculates the same Hardware ID which matches the current activation on the computer and it stays activated without having to contact Microsoft activation servers.

When you change the motherboard, Windows 10 starts up and it calculates a different Hardware ID. The change in Hardware ID triggers the deactivation of Windows 10. Then Windows 10 goes through the same routine - it sends the Hardware ID to Microsoft activation servers. If that Hardware ID was never provided to MS activation servers before with a Windows 10 activation, then the server returns that no match is found, and Windows 10 starts nagging you to provide a product key to activate it with.

That's the basics of it. What actually gets sent to Microsoft activation servers is an Installation ID which is a combination of the Hardware ID, the Product ID (version of Windows 10), and the Product Key. So, actually changing any of those will trigger a deactivation and Windows 10 seeking activation again from Microsoft activation servers.

 

Amazing, what an explanation, thank you.....it's nice to be able to understands his finally

 

thought best to make an image of the laptop HDD before fitting the new ssd, then copy the image to it.....acronis reporting difficulty reading HDD.....so thought I would do a live upgrade using media creator.....sorted out some issues with my PC....is it possible to perform this with a CD created with the media tool.....I.e. an upgrade which is totally non destructive ?

thanks

 

With the old OS running, just insert the DVD like you would if you wanted to play a movie or copy data files. From within Windows, run setup.exe on the DVD.

 

will that be the same as a live upgrade ???

 

Yep.