Can I install W11 to a new build machine and use my old W10 key?

philmar · Apr 16, 2023

My 11 year old computer will not boot due to "Bad System Config Info". I've tried System Restore, tried Resetting This PC, tried restarting in safe mode but no joy. I have just completed a new pc build with an Intel i7 13700 and a Z790 motherboard and would like to install Windows 11 on to it.
My W10 is on a 2.5" sata SSD and I have a SSD external enclosure that I have used to gain access to my non-Windows files using a laptop. Assuming I am able to retrieve the W10 key, can I use it to upgrade to W11? Do I boot W11 on the new machine and use the W10 product key? or must I install W10 first, activate it and then upgrade to W11?

kgarrett67 · Apr 16, 2023

I think I'm correct, but just install Windows 11 on the laptop and once you have internet access, it will activate through digital license from Microsoft.

philmar · Apr 16, 2023

Sorry, my laptop already has Windows 11.
My old desktop PC computer had Windows 10 on it but I can no longer get it to boot. I want to use this Windows 10 key to install Windows on to my new desktop build.
I'm hoping I can use my laptop to find the Windows 10 key that is on the SSD drive from my old desktop computer. I have that SSD connected to my laptop using a external SSD enclosure.
Eventually I want Windows 11 on my new desktop because it will have DDR5 RAM and a 13 gen i7 on it. I am hoping to use my corrupted Windows 10 on my old desktop to activate Windows on my new desktop.

kgarrett67 · Apr 16, 2023

philmar said:
Sorry, my laptop already has Windows 11.

I'm sorry, I meant to say desktop instead of laptop.

Windows 10 should be activated with a digital license, so Windows 11 should activate since you already have a digital license.

cereberus · Apr 16, 2023

philmar said:
My 11 year old computer will not boot due to "Bad System Config Info". I've tried System Restore, tried Resetting This PC, tried restarting in safe mode but no joy. I have just completed a new pc build with an Intel i7 13700 and a Z790 motherboard and would like to install Windows 11 on to it.
My W10 is on a 2.5" sata SSD and I have a SSD external enclosure that I have used to gain access to my non-Windows files using a laptop. Assuming I am able to retrieve the W10 key, can I use it to upgrade to W11? Do I boot W11 on the new machine and use the W10 product key? or must I install W10 first, activate it and then upgrade to W11?

If your Windows 10 key is a full retail key, you can use it to activate Windows 11. If it is an oem key, it will probably work but not 100% guranteed.

If you were using an MS licence on old pc, you should be able to transfer the digital licence using activation troubleshooter (zillions of guides) and you do not even need a key. This does not apply if you were using a local account on old pc.

Marcus Vinicus · Apr 16, 2023

There are links with walkthroughs here:

Transferring Windows 11 retail digital license to new PC

I will be building my new Intel i9 13900k based PC this coming week. All the parts are new apart from the GPU and one of the drives. I have looked around both here at tenforums and elevenforums first before asking about this. Also looked on YouTube and searched the net. What is the current...

www.elevenforum.com

NavyLCDR · Apr 16, 2023

kgarrett67 said:
I'm sorry, I meant to say desktop instead of laptop.

Windows 10 should be activated with a digital license, so Windows 11 should activate since you already have a digital license.

How would a newly home built computer have a digital license for Windows 10?

kgarrett67 · Apr 16, 2023

Sorry, I just wasn't following your original post as well as I should. The new computer will not have a digital license. I think Post #6 is the one you would be looking to do if you have a Retail Copy. If it's an OEM version of Windows, I don't think you can transfer it as OEM versions are only good for one computer.

NavyLCDR · Apr 16, 2023

kgarrett67 said:
Sorry, I just wasn't following your original post as well as I should. The new computer will not have a digital license. I think Post #6 is the one you would be looking to do if you have a Retail Copy. If it's an OEM version of Windows, I don't think you can transfer it as OEM versions are only good for one computer.

Microsoft has dropped almost all of the restrictions regarding OEM licenses. OEM licenses are easily transferable to new computers now.

Steve C · Apr 17, 2023

philmar said:
My 11 year old computer will not boot due to "Bad System Config Info". I've tried System Restore, tried Resetting This PC, tried restarting in safe mode but no joy. I have just completed a new pc build with an Intel i7 13700 and a Z790 motherboard and would like to install Windows 11 on to it.
My W10 is on a 2.5" sata SSD and I have a SSD external enclosure that I have used to gain access to my non-Windows files using a laptop. Assuming I am able to retrieve the W10 key, can I use it to upgrade to W11? Do I boot W11 on the new machine and use the W10 product key? or must I install W10 first, activate it and then upgrade to W11?

I've just built a new PC and installed Windows 11 which was quick and slick. I easily activated Windows 11 Pro based on a Windows 8 retail key I bought 11 years ago as follows which was used by Windows 10 on my previous PC. I did this:
1. Skipped inserting a product key on installing W11
2. Installed W11 as an admin user using my current MS account
3. W11 wasn't activated as expected. I ran the Troubleshooter, indicated a hardware change then selected the name of my previous PC. W11 then activated in a few seconds.

philmar · Apr 17, 2023

I was able to get what I think is the key using a program called ShowKeyPlus which found a OEM key and an 'installed' key. They are different.
The asterisk says it requires a digital licence for activation. Does this mean I can install W11 - indicate I do NOT have a activation key - and then activate it by signing in to Windows?
OR, must I install W10 and use the key to activate it and then obtain a digital license?

Winuser · Apr 17, 2023

I'm curious to know how you used ShowKeyPlus on A computer that won't boot.

philmar · Apr 17, 2023

I placed the corrupted OS 2.5" sata SSD in an external enclosure attached to a laptop that is working. The laptop's W11 key was displayed in Home tab...I saw there was info under More tab and it is a key for W10....I assume it is from the SSD in the external drive.

NavyLCDR · Apr 17, 2023

philmar said:
I was able to get what I think is the key using a program called ShowKeyPlus which found a OEM key and an 'installed' key. They are different.
The asterisk says it requires a digital licence for activation. Does this mean I can install W11 - indicate I do NOT have a activation key - and then activate it by signing in to Windows?
OR, must I install W10 and use the key to activate it and then obtain a digital license?View attachment 58086

The installed key is YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7. You can install Windows 11 Home directly without having to install Windows 10 first. Then you can use the OEM Key to activate it, not the generic installed key. If you are using a MS Account and using the OEM key does not work, then you can use the activation troubleshooting wizard to copy the license from the old computer to the new computer.

philmar · Apr 18, 2023

NavyLCDR said:
......... then you can use the activation troubleshooting wizard to copy the license from the old computer to the new computer.

By 'copy' you mean 'assign', right? I won't be hooking the old SSD card with the corrupted Windows to the new build and copying information.
THANKS!

NavyLCDR · Apr 18, 2023

philmar said:
By 'copy' you mean 'assign', right? I won't be hooking the old SSD card with the corrupted Windows to the new build and copying information.
THANKS!

Using the activation troubleshooter with a Microsoft account, you will be given a list of computers attached to your account. You pick the old computer that you want to activate the new computer from. MS will activate your new computer with a digital license and the generic product key I provided above. The Windows installation on the old computer will be unaffected. It will continue to be activated just like nothing happened.