Moving SSD with Win-11 Home

Bear with me as I am an old Win3.5/7/8/10 hack.
I have a three year old pc running Win-11 Home which I would like to move the SSD containing Win-11 Home, (version 23H2 build 22631.3593), to a new motherboard, ram & video processor.
Can this be accomplished successfully ?
If so, do I need to go into the UEFI(BIOS) of the original mobo and disable anything such as 'Trusted Platform Module' to allow the OS to boot up when detecting the new mobo ?
Would making an Image of the original SSD be necessary ?

Appreciate all wisdom and recommendations to my intent,
Thank you, David

Hello David. I am giving generic answers here as we do not know all the specifics of the 2 machines.
Yes it's possible to move the SSD from one machine to the other but you will probably encounter Windows activation issues on the new hardware, especially if the underlying license on the drive is OEM. That license is tied to the machine hardware. If you have a retail license it can be moved to the new machine simply by entering the license key during activation. Prior to moving the drive I would certainly make sure bitlocker device encryption is disabled (if it's enabled) on the machine you are removing the SSD from.

No there's nothing in the old machine bios you would have to change. You would have to make sure the new bios settings are correct.
Yes, there is always a chance the new hardware will not boot from the SSD. You won't know til you try. Mileage varies and when doing this.

Many folks here move a system installation from one machine to another. Personally, I do not. I've always felt when going into all new hardware it warrants a new installation of Windows so I can be assured everything is clean. I would backup personal files, move the drive , but clean install windows on it. If the license is a retail license, I would activate using that license key. If it's an OEM license, I would purchase a new license. But that's just me. I'm a better safe than sorry gal. I don't want stuff jumping up and biting me in the behind later.

I do it all the time, with no problems, but then I'm not tied to Microshaft.
And I keep all my 12 PC's set up to MBR on the motherboard bios.

I have three SSD's on this very PC, that have three different OS's on them, and every one of them were originally set up on a different computer.
Then I'd move an SSD to this PC and boot up to it, and in just a matter of seconds, the OS would settle in and make itself at home. And if it needed a different video driver, it would download it. No problem.

So "try it"..... what could possibly go wrong?

TM

Glasskuter, I appreciate the timely response and feedback. Bitlocker, that was the protection I was thinking of but could not remember what is was called. I seem to recall this is a windows OS feature not something in the UEDI. I'll go dig around.
The mobo was an asus package with win-11 preinstalled. Not finding anything in the System Tools to indicate if it's the EOM or Retail version.

Is the win-11 key findable ?
I remember years ago we could find it in the Registry of some older OSs. I think at the time of win-7 there was even third party tools that could recover the installation key from a working OS.

Thanks again, David.

DEL2023 said:

he mobo was an asus package with win-11 preinstalled.....Is the win-11 key findable

Click to expand...

To answer your question, From command prompt as administrator wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
But entering this key won't get you activated..

Any pre-installed Windows is an OEM key embedded in the UEFI bios, activated in MS servers and tied to that hardware. MS then activates that device with a digital license. If you try to enter that key in an entirely new system where all the hardware is different, MS servers recognize that the key does not match the hardware it was licensed to.

Retail copy of Windows is different. You can transfer the license to another device.

Now that machines are licensed with digital licenses, MS has tightened up its activation system to hold users to the MS licensing agreement that we all agree to. One can always run the activation troubleshooter when a machine does not activate. It will sometimes fix activation issues. Others may disagree with me here, but from my experience, if the hardware is drastically different from the original machine, one is spinning his wheels. If you're dead set on trying to move that SSD to the other machine and expect no issues by doing so, I say go for it. Maybe you'll hit it lucky....or not.
.

DEL2023 said:

Is the win-11 key findable ?

Click to expand...

Head over to the Microsoft store and download ShowKeyPlus.

glasskuter said:

Any pre-installed Windows is an OEM key embedded in the UEFI bios, activated in MS servers and tied to that hardware. MS then activates that device with a digital license. If you try to enter that key in an entirely new system where all the hardware is different, MS servers recognize that the key does not match the hardware it was licensed to.

Retail copy of Windows is different. You can transfer the license to another device.

Click to expand...

I appreciate your time to explain how the Microsoft licensing has evolved. Your feedback is very helpful in my going forward. Thank you.

Scott said:

Head over to the Microsoft store and download ShowKeyPlus.

ShowKeyPlus - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

Find your Windows product key with ShowKeyPlus. Your product key depends on the type of Windows version you bought: • If you bought Windows from an authorized retailer, the product key will only show as the Installed key. This applies to OEM System Builder keys as well. • If you upgraded...

apps.microsoft.com

Click to expand...

Scott,
Good day. I appreciate the recommendation and URL I'll have to try this again tomorrow. I can download the installation.exe. Launching the exe I am taken to the Microsoft page, however clicking the install button is not installing the the utility. Maybe I'll have better results tomorrow.

Win 11 turn on device encryption by default. Before you move, disable it.

I agree with glasskuter
On a new computer, I always do a clean install. If you move the old computer main drive to the new computer what you're going to install on the old computer?

Megahertz said:

.. what you're going to install on the old computer?

Click to expand...

Nothing, i was going to retire the motherboard, cpu and ram. The old system is not win-11 compliant.
Thank you,