Windows 10: Windows 10 Pro's digital license for activating Windows 11 on another SSD

I currently use Windows 10 Pro with a digital license and I'd like to buy another SSD for my PC and install Windows 11 on it. When do this, I guess the digital license will activate Windows 11 Pro too on the new SSD. If I now swap the SSDs and decide to use Windows 10 again, will it remain activated or will I be able to only use Windows 11 from now on? In other words: will both installations remain activated so I can swap the SSDs anytime or will I be able to use only one of them?

:)

 

Windows won't activate a digital license but will with a product key?

Pardon my jumping in...

On the first point: Once you have a digital license on a machine, you don't really need the key again. You could simply reinstall Windows using the generic key. Windows then creates a hash that is unique to your computer. It will look on the Windows activation servers to see if that machine has ever been activated before with the same edition of Windows. If it has, it will auto activate. There is no need to transfer any sort of license or even take any action whatsoever. It's just magic *Smile.

One the final point, regarding usage of license keys for Win 10 and 11. Just to take that point one step further - If you activate a system with Win 10, you can at any time install Windows 11 as well. You can also go the other way around. If you use a license to install Win 11, you could later decide to install Win 10 instead. Even the generic keys are the same for Win 10 and 11. So, those licenses are truly interchangeable because they are one and the same.

Just to illustrate a scenario that is common for me:

Let's say that I have a new computer. I typically like to install by doing a fully automated, unattended install. With an unattended install you use a generic key. For example, I will use the Win 10 / 11 Pro generic key. Because generic keys are NOT activation keys, Windows will not activate automatically after installation. I will have to provide a real Win 10 / 11 Pro key to activate it. At that point a digital license is created and stored on Microsoft servers for my system.

Once activated, I toss that key, knowing that I will never need it again.

Now, assume that I reinstall Windows from scratch again on that same system. If I'm doing an unattended install I provide the generic key (because unattended installation needs some sort of key). If I'm manually stepping through the installation, I simply tell Windows that I don't have a key. I just make sure that I am installing the same edition of Windows (Pro). After installation, Windows checks the Microsoft servers to see if a digital license exists for that machine. If it does, it activates. Note that at no time did I need to reference the original license key or perform any sort of transfer. It just happens automagically.

Hope that helps!

 

Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro Upgrade (Digital License Linked with Microsoft Account)

Hi,

So i needed to reinstall windows on my SSD from HDD. I had the windows 11 Pro license linked digitally to my Microsoft account. I download the windows 11 multi-iso from microsoft's website but the edition that was installed on laptop was the home edition. It is activated but the problem is that I want to upgrade to Pro. I have the digital license of windows 11 Pro but when i click upgrade it directs me to windows store and ask's me to purchase the pro edition.

Please help.

Sincerely,

Roman

 

Windows 10 Pro Activated with Digital License

Hi, I am using PC with genuine Windows 7 Pro. I have change the HDD of the PC to SSD and reactivate the windows to Windows 10 Pro using the installer that I download from windows installation media tool- https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10 . I click I do not have product key when it request for activation key during the installation. When the windows done installed, the windows activation shows activated with digital license. Is the windows 10 Pro I have installed is genuine?