If I replace my motherboard, CPU, and memory will I have to buy a new version of win 10 or can I use the dvd I created from my current system? Obviously I will install win 10 fresh, but will it activate?
If you replace the Motherboard, you will no longer have the UEFI Bios that contains your Windows product key in the old motherboards CMOS.
If your Windows 10 came with a product key, you will have to type that in.
My current motherboard is more than a decade old and doesn't have UEFI; so I believe I must type it in anyway, unless it is built into the win10 setup dvd I created.
Even changing the CPU will require a re-install. Of course, I could be incorrect in reference to Windows 10. I had to do this years ago after upgrading a CPU with Windows 7.
You don't even really need to do a fresh installation of Windows 10 just because you're swapping hardware. You'd just need to install drivers for the new hardware. Also, are you replacing the hardware for an upgrade? Or because your hardware failed?
You'll still have your key, you can try activating by phone, otherwise you can reach out to Microsoft. You'll need to provide some proof of purchase for the new hardware and whatnot, but they'll be able to get you re-activated.
My hardware is over a decade old. It is running fine. The only problem is it often hangs on boot; I suspect this is because there is a marvell sata chip on the motherboard and I have a pci sata board that also has a marvell sata chip.
I'm thinking that the new AMD cpu with 6 cores would be a nice upgrade.
Would you happen to know what the microsoft phone number to call is?
The activate-by-phone is automated and is done from the Windows activation screen. So you'd want to go to your System page in your control panel, press Activate Windows, then hit Activate By Phone.
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