Reinstall win 10

[#1]

I'm having to replace the mobo on my father's pc due to a failed NIC and also its general age, it's very sluggish. I will reinstall 10 from stratch, but wondered about reactivation. I am presuming it won't, but wanted to avoid a call to M$ if possible. I have extracted the product key via a key finder, but wondered if it would work as this was an upgrade from 7. I still have his 7 key if that would work??. I know about the Microsoft account and digital licence thing, but he dosnt want a Microsoft account. Any ideas?

[#2]

What's the problem with a call to M$? It's normally an automated server.

Is the machine currently running W10? If it is simply swap the motherboard and do a repair. It will (in my experience) simply reauthenticate.

However why not create a M$ account. Create the digital licence. Use it to reauthenticate and then swap back to a local account.

[#3]

I reinstalled W10 the other day.

I got the W10 file from their site (iso), put it on a 6GB USB, went into bios and changed boot order (as W10 already on drive, though this started with W8.1)

It will ask, during re-installation, if you have a key for an older version, but don't type it in and carry on.

It should install fine, did for me, without asking for key - but W10 was already on same drive, that might be the only difference to you?

Old version files are named window.old, though I have 3 windows folders - original W8.1, last W10 and new W10.

Or if you're using the same drive, you could always opt for reset (settings - update and security - recovery). You can keep exiting user files or delete them. You'll need to reinstall apps.

The only reason for me going via the USB option was the system crashed and nothing I tried would get it to boot.

HTH.

[#4]

Thanks, last time I did this I had to call them and they wanted to remote into my system, it wasn't the till free number and typing in a code. Will see how I get on.

[#5]

If you called "Microsoft", it wasn't a free number and they wanted to remote into your system then you probably called a fraudster.

I doubt that the key found by keyfinder software will get you anywhere.

Windows 10 activation is keyed-in to the motherboard so if you don't change the motherboard then you can re-install Windows 10 and it will activate automatically without the need to enter a product key.

If your computer was supplied with Windows 7 or 8 and you took the free upgrade to Windows 10 then Microsoft may refuse to give you a new Windows 10 activation key after you change the motherboard.  You will have to revert to Windows 7/8 but the upgrade to Windows 10 still worked last time I tried it so you'll have to go the long way round.

If your computer was supplied with Windows 10 then if you call the free number, describe the change you made as a repair and be prepared to be insistent then you may be able to persuade Microsoft to give you a new product key.      

[#6]

It was a free number via the Microsoft site and they activated 10 no issues and I've had no problems. It was just a bit of a faff to be honest. I shall see what happens and be prepared to be insistent🤣🤣

[#7]

Any problems activating after the re-install, just go on Amazon and buy a licence. £10 for Pro. It does actually work.

[#8]

If I ever had to mess with all this licensing palaver, I wouldn't have a clue what to do. Luckily, I've only got half a netbook with W7 on it.

Everything else I have isn't locked down.

[#9]

So what happened. @penfold ?

[#10]

It might have gone something like this....

Just to update my reply above, which did work:

My son, decided to follow some 'advice' on the internet about migrating data from one drive to another, in this case from a HDD to a SSD. It all went well. Then following that 'advice' he then proceeded to wipe both drives (yes the instruction was to format both, using the BIOS). He then finished up with two empty drives.

(I did go a little mental and contacted the author, whom has now amended that 'how to' (ruin your OS)

But, for future readers there is a way out.

As he had a completely new computer (new drives, new Mobo, graphics, ram etc), and we had the original W8.1 key, trying to install W10 was possible, yet the 'new' W10 would not authenticate. Even signing in with his MS account, the computer said no. We ended up chatting to MS via live chat, which starts off virtual and then depending on how that goes you end up chatting to a human. As they could see he had several copies of W10 registered, they too couldn't fix this. So they, at no cost, installed a brand new W10 with using 'interesting' methods (we did take photos of the screen) and now all's well. W10 on SSD and 1TB HDD for his gaming.

(so, using MS can actually pay off)

[#11]

Sorry for the lack of response guys, family stuff has got in the way of things... I am hopeful to get on with this over the weekend. The system is built up now, just need to see how the installation and licensing process goes. I will feedback exactly what happens.
Out of interest, what happened to @DS is similar to my previous attempt at this I had to contact Microsoft via chat, and they took control of the pc to sort the licence out.

[#12]

By format a disk, did they mean "define the disk partitions" or,

"define the disk partitions", plus "build relevant file systems in each partition"?

Sad to see the meanings of words change over time...

[#13]

If @VileReynard was asking me, then no, not a partition, the write up clearly said format both drives, as in wipe both drives completely, with the instructions on how to do it. The author admitted he got it wrong and based his 'work' on someone else's work (the other author had 3 drives and not 2 drives). He refused to tell me where he sourced that info from. To save embarrassment, I won't link you to it (plus comments are now disabled, thus mine have now gone too). I used a throw away email address and after he amended 'his work' his email was dead also. Sod's law my lad chose the clearly wrong blog, but that's the internet for you!! Though my lad learnt a valuable lesson, wait for someone who thinks he knows what he's doing (that being me).

But my first post does work and my second post was after my lad followed those instructions.

(So we had a W8.1 key that wouldn't work (nor for MS), W10 deleted completely, then reinstalled using one of MS's internal keys using methods I've never seen anyone use before - we caught some of it by taking photos of the screen. MS did however check my sons 3 other registered devices, though one was his bust original gaming rig)

However, should future readers stumble on this thread, they might have a chance of getting MS to use their internal methods to bypass the normal installation methods and get the user out the brown stuff. Not my preferred option but saved buying another key and as the drive was empty, there was nothing for them to see.

[#14]

Need some help guys.... Finished transferring data from his drive to my backup drives. Put hdd in, and then tried to power up. At first nothing, so reseated all connections. System powered up for a second or so then stopped. System finally booted to bios, and as I was checking settings, the system clicked and switched off. This was after 20-30 seconds. Tried again, same thing. Fans stop and system switches off, but power light is still on. Tried again and monitored cpu temp via bios, and it was OK, at 36 degrees and fan speeds around 2600rpm. System then switched off. I am stumped, I have reseated memory, and all connections. I suspect either psu or motherboard. System seems to detect memory OK, Anyone any ideas

[#15]

Chances are that it is a temperature thing that allows you to power up, followed by a sudden shutdown.

After a sudden shutdown wait 5 minutes, for things to cool down.

Do you get as far as a bootloader selection screen?

When you say the power light is on, is this just a motherboard LED or a light on the case?

I'd go for blaming the PSU cutting the power to the motherboard...