Tech

Can Windows licenses be transferred between PCs?

Microsoft is quite strict about the Windows licenses that give you the legal right to use the software. Not all are transferable. Officially, a license can only be transferred if you bought it through a retailer, in a retail version. Licenses distributed through the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) channel and those sold in packages for multiple business, education, or government equipment known as volume licenses, are non-transferable.

The vast majority of new PCs come with Windows pre-installed thanks to Microsoft’s enormous control of the OEM channel and that it is the primary vehicle for its vast dominance of the computing desktop. But there are manufacturers that sell new computers without this type of installation, either because they are delivered without an operating system, because they use a GNU/Linux distribution or a lighter solution such as FreeDOS.

In these cases or when we create our own desktop computers by customizing the components, we will need to acquire the corresponding software license, either free (if we opt for systems such as GNU/Linux) or paid as in the case of Windows. Can we take advantage of the license of an old computer that we are not going to use? As we said above, it will depend on its type.

In Windows 10 and Windows 11 the license is linked to the main hardware of the PC or what is the same, to the motherboard. Therefore, if you try to use a non-transferable license product key, the Windows activation server will not validate the license on the new hardware. If Windows came pre-installed on your new PC, it will almost certainly have an OEM license that you won’t be able to transfer. Microsoft offers a support page where it explains all the possibilities to activate Windows.

Windows licenses What type do I have?

If you’re not sure what type of license your computer has, it’s very easy to get the information by running an internal application from the command line:

  • Right-click on the start button and start a command prompt session in administrator mode.
  • Type the command “slmgr -dli” to get the information.
  • As you will see in the example, Windows Script Host indicates that we have a retail license, which is one of those that we can transfer to another computer.

Windows licenses

Product Key – Digital License

The product key is a 25 character code that until Windows 7 was used to activate Windows. Starting with Windows 8 and later, a digital license (called “digital entitlement” in Windows 10) is used as a method of activating Windows 10 that does not require entering a product key. You can transfer the license using both methods, because Microsoft still allows free upgrade from Windows to Windows 10.

If you have saved your product key (XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX format) you can go to the next step. If you do not have it written down, there are several methods to obtain it, since it is located in the registry of the operating system, in the UEFI firmware, in the confirmation email received after purchasing Windows or in the box in which it was supplied, printed on a label that it was the way it was done in Windows 7 and was later removed for security and piracy reasons.

There are several ways to locate it, but a very simple one is to use a third-party application such as ProduKey, which is used to obtain the product key for Windows or other products such as Microsoft Office. Just download the tool (32 or 64 bit) and run it. It is not unlikely that your antivirus will detect it as a potential threat. If this happens to you, temporarily disable it. Once executed you will get both the product ID and the product key that we will use on the new PC:

How to transfer a Windows 10 or Windows 11 license?

In order to carry out the transfer, we first have to deactivate the license on the source PC. Later we can reactivate it on the new PC using the same key.

  • Right-click on the start button and start a command prompt session in administrator mode.
  • Type the command “slmgr.vbs /upk” to deactivate the license. Run this command ONLY if you are actually transferring the license because the system will become unlicensed.

Once on the new PC, you can use the product key in several ways:

  • During the installation of Windows 10 or Windows 11 it will ask you if you have the product key.
  • Or once installed, you can do it the same way from the general Settings> Update and security> Activation> tool in Windows 10 or Settings> System> Activation> Change the product key.

  • Once installed and if you use the Windows console, you can also activate the license from there with a single command and the product key: “slmgr.vbs /ipk xxxxx- xxxxx- xxxxx- xxxxx- xxxxx”.

More options

As we said above, Microsoft replaced the activation method in Windows 10 using servers that linked the license to specific hardware, the motherboard. Using the same method, a Microsoft ID account can be linked to a specific PC, and this linking also allows transfer a Windows 10 retail license without using the product key.

Whether you already have it or if you activate this method on the old PC, you will get a type of license called: «Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account«. In these cases, simply sign in with your Microsoft account on the new PC and Windows 10 will automatically activate the license through that account. You can’t have it active on both PCs, so the older PC will be unlicensed like when we use the product key.

Both one method and another do not allow you to jump between the different editions of Windows. That is, if your license is for Windows 10 Home, that will be the one that will be activated on the new PC. If you want to jump to Windows 10 Pro you will have to purchase a new license.

Finally, note that in case of problems with the above options or a hardware change (change of motherboard on a desktop), Windows can be activated by contacting the microsoft support. There are three methods to activate your product: Online via the Internet, by phone with our automated systems, and with a live technical support representative.

Concluding. If you want to save money on upgrading PCs, it is possible to transfer Windows licenses by various methods as long as the license is retail, not OEM (pre-installed) licenses or so-called business volume licenses that are non-transferable . And if you do not want to “spend” the previous license, you can take advantage of the offers that we offer you regularly and get a legal license for life for just 12 euros. In all cases, on new or transferred licenses, you can upgrade to Windows 11 for free.

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