how to xfer Win 10 Pro license from scrapped PC to new PC?

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Some years ago I upgraded a laptop to Pro from Home by buying a license properly and installing it.  The laptop went in for repairs – and apparently I’m not getting it back.  I do have a full Windows Backup (on an external drive), and will be getting back the SDD (boot drive) and HDD (data drive) along with the wherewithal to purchase a much newer replacement laptop – but it comes with Home, not Pro.  I also have Office 365 (home multi user license), but that should be an easy switch.  Can I, and if so how, transfer Win 10 Pro from the defunct system to the new one?

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If the new computer comes with Home, you can use the Pro license you bought to upgrade the Home to Pro by changing the license key once you have the new one up and going – providing the Pro license was Retail and not OEM.
OEM licenses are tied to the computer they are installed on.
Retail licenses are transferable to another computer.

You may have to go through MS to activate the Pro license, but that is usually not a problem.

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[formack]

This is anecdotal; I do not know if this will work in every instance. I used the Windows 7 Pro license from a renewed ThinkPad L412 to upgrade a Dell Inspiron 7000 with Win 10 Home using the “About” page in settings, pressing “Change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows” and entering the license from the sticker on the bottom of the old laptop.

When this device was replaced under warranty with a unit that also came with Windows 10 Home, I used the Windows 7 Pro key from a spare ASUS laptop (Its “Pro” license had been purchased on line through Amazon some years earlier.) to upgrade the new Dell 7573.

In both cases each change worked fine. Don’t know if this method with “hand-me-down” product keys will work with licenses that are internalized.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by formack.

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If you used an OEM key (installed from the mfg on the computer, which may be you) from one computer to  license another computer, that license is not legal. OEM keys are assigned ONLY to the original computer.

If you used a purchased RETAIL key to upgrade a computer, it is transferable to another computer ONLY IF it is previously removed from the first computer. If it has been removed from the first computer, the license is legal on the second computer, although you may have to go through MS’s reactivation process.

AskWoody does not support the use of illegal license keys.

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1. I bought at some point a PRO upgrade license – legally to use on a Home Premium system – did this for a few PC’s, one of which is the one going away.  I just talked to MS and the sort of partially English speaking rep from the far side of the moon (couldn’t understand most of what he said most of the time) says that only if the full Win Pro license was purchased for the machine (not OEM) can you go ahead and use that on a new PC.  That if you just bought a retail Pro upgrade it’s not transferrable.’
2. Only ‘proof’ I have of the license (since I don’t have the PC intact and running) is that the MS account site shows that the PC is win 10 pro (though in another spot it says win 10 enterprise).
3. I have a very old Win 7 (with 32 bit software0 PRO UPGRADE kit, key still readable inside the box.
4. Obviously I cannot remove Win 10 Pro upgrade off the to be scrapped PC because I don’t have the PC and won’t get it back.

Thanks!

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Well, in the first instance, I accomplished the upgrade with the help of staff at a Microsoft store (when they existed). And, at the time, I enquired regarding the propriety of the action. The current Dell laptop has been interacting with Microsoft with updates/upgrades for a year and there has been no apparent consequence.

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As to the old Win 7 Pro license, I know that at one point I removed it from the PC it was on.  But is there any way to readily tell whether it is assigned to any other PC?  I know I could start the upgrade process with the new PC when I have it and type in the key, see what happens.

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WSpbug56 wrote:

I have a very old Win 7 (with 32 bit software0 PRO UPGRADE kit, key still readable inside the box.

If you upgrade with this, I believe you will get a 32-bit system.

WSpbug56 wrote:

I bought at some point a PRO upgrade license – legally to use on a Home Premium system – did this for a few PC’s, one of which is the one going away.

You should have documentation with the purchased license key included. Box it came in? Invoice from download source? Email/receipt with license key from the vendor where you purchased it?
You do not have to remove anything. All you need is the license key.

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For one of them I have an email receipt from MS but it has NO details at all, no key.  Probably through the online MS Store.  My much older one from Win 7 I have the box, the software disc, AND the key sticker inside the box.

Just got off the phone with MS again; guy insists that these retail upgrade keys cannot be reused on a new PC when you junk the old; IOTW not transferrable even through retail, not OEM.

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The one you bought from the MS store should be recorded in your MS account records.

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