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Building a new gaming rig for the first time in a decade!
Right. Old PC will still be in use for Zwift etc but might be sold on, one day.
Got a cheap key for Win 10 Pro for the new build. (Going Win 10 for moment as peeps seem to think it's a little better for gaming.)
So, my MS account will have 2 keys attached which i assume is fine.
Now, if i sell on the old PC can I "unlink" it from my MS account? Is that even necessary?
Thanks guys. I'm very high out if the loop these days.
If there is anything else relevant to this scenario I might not know about, please let me know!
Thanks guys.👍
The key is for the windows licence. You need 2 licences, one for each PC, and once a PC is registered with ms' servers that's it for life unless you start switching out major components. When you come to sell on I'd level the existing install and install a fresh one, don't set it up with your account (you can skip this step at setup), get it up to date, and flog it.
For reference I spend some time at work setting up PCs to run customer's equipment so have some experience with this sort of thing. 👍
Now, if i sell on the old PC can I “unlink” it from my MS account? Is that even necessary?
If you just do a full reinstallation of Windows and delete the existing installation, all you account login details will be wiped from the machine.
as above. if the old machine is win 10 then just do a factory reset and you get the option to wipe the old drive. That way you know it is all clean before you sell it. That's what I do before passing machines between staff members.
Cheers guys.👍
So basically, do a format/ clean install on the old PC, use its key during install a usual but obviously don't log into my windows account etc.
That about right?
No need to do a format/clean. In Win10 from within windows just select 'reset this pc' and it will do all of that for you
Also, you don't need a key even if you do a full reinstallation. The hardware has been registered with that Windows serial number and you can reinstall without needing to enter the key.
I don't think Microsoft give a crap, these days. I recently swapped out a busted motherboard on a win10 build.. Gigabyte something or other, to an Asrock something or other, and it registered fine when connected to the internet.
If memory serves they use a couple of components for verification of the PC's identity, so swapping out just one part shouldn't matter.
doesn't seem to matter how many parts you change, i've done 2 complete rebuilds no problem on the same key so in effect 3 pc's.
think the original key was an OEM windows 7, since upgraded to 10 then 11