Full PC Upgrade OEM System builder Installed

[#1]

I need to clone a HDD which is failing and upgrade all the hardware at some point, the trouble is I built the machine which had a copy of windows 7 I installed from the disk supplied  (OEM System builder pack) will I need to buy a new licence to re-activate windows?

[#2]

You should be fine I think, Windows can detect whether you have a SLIC BIOS, so if it is the PC manufacturer disc it will detect it is on the same machine.

[#3]

That would also be including the Motherboard.

Quote

"You are the System Builder as you are building your own PC.
You are also the recipient.

So yes you can install the OEM copy. However be aware of the fact that should the motherboard fail you OEM version of Windows 7 is now worthless as it can not be installed on another PC. If you buy a replacement motherboard it must be an "exact" duplicate (one small change by the motherboard manufacture) or the replacement motherboard (even though it may have the same part number ) and you will not be able to re-activate Windows 7. "

I'm trying to define "and you will not be able to re-activate Windows 7" does this mean I can't just put a new licence in ?

[#4]

The reason OEM versions are cheap is because they are non transferable.
There's nothing to stop you getting a new licence although I would personally try to activate the current license online and if it doesn't work choose the option to speak to someone, broken motherboard often works

[#5]

If you have an active Windows 7 license and all you are doing is replacing the hard drive you shouldn't have a problem

If you intend to go for a full system rebuild in the future then you are out of luck but you can get a dirt cheap Win 10 licence from an Amazon seller - I did and it all worked

[#6]

I have a system with an OEM windows 7 and have changed the motherboard twice without problems and made other changes. With both motherboard changes the chipset manufacturers and video card were different manufacturers and the processors went from single to triple core. The only problem I found was installing the new drivers, though downloading these before changing the hardware does make it easier, as does removing the existing hardware from the device list before shutting down and then using the new hardware.

Phil

[#7]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Problem seems to be resolved with just the HDD change, I'll bear all the points in mind for moving forward in the future.

I do have another question though!

I'm looking at using a WD Blue SSD 250GB alongside a WD Blue 2TB HDD to give the pc a bit of a lift, any thoughts on do's and don'ts ? I read somewhere about how to enable trim on windows 7 to keep the SSD happy etc..

[#8]

Windows 7 will recognise and SSD and automatically enable the trim function.  I think you might need to turn-off scheduled defragmentation on Windows 7, although this is automatic on Windows 10. 

[#9]

Anybody know if I can activate windows 7 home premium (Retail DVD) with an OEM key bought from the tinternet?

Reason being is I've just spent 2 days tidying up and making an ftp server from an old box with everybodys old drives spinning alongside a new SSD with Windows 7.

[#10]

It's ok I started again, I bought a key from kinguin.net and followed the instructions on downloadloading an iso and ripping it to USB, I then put the key in and bingo... all good. Genuine.

Just need to install 192 updates again!