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Old February 12th 19, 04:10 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
T
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Posts: 4,600
Default M$ chat tells me I can't wipe and reinstall

On 2/11/19 7:02 PM, Paul wrote:
T wrote:
On 2/11/19 6:19 PM, T wrote:
or I lose my license.

Am I being bamboozled?


They are telling me since it was a free upgrade from
Windows 8.1 and I wiped my hard drive when going
from 1803 to 1809 that I lost my rights


Not as I understand it.

Did you change the installed hardware, such as
using a different motherboard ? That would cause
the hardware hash to change and your Digital
Entitlement could not be located on the license
server at MS.

When a system does a Free Upgrade by doing
an over-the-top Win7SP1 to Win10, you're allow
to then scrub the drive and do a Clean Install
of the same SKU of Win10. Win7SP1 Pro to Win10 Pro,
then Clean Install of Win10 Pro. The Digital Entitlement
generated during the 7-10 install, records the motherboard
MAC and other identifying serial numbers. The Clean
Install attempt, then sends in the same hardware hash,
proving it's the same machine, and that it should be
activated again. The original Win7 image doesn't have
to be present. The free upgrade license key, like
the bogus *3V66T key, isn't a real key, and cannot be
typed into any screens for activation purposes. Each
SKU (Home and Pro and...) has its own specific key
(8HVX7, 3V66T, ...).

If the Win7 install was Retail, and you moved it to another
machine, maybe they can see that at Microsoft on their
screen.

If you change the hardware, that can cause the activation
to fail on a Clean Install.

If all the machines in your house use the same MSA account,
it's supposed to make it easier for Microsoft Support to
handle cases where a Win7SP1 Pro OEM +Freebie user say, changes a
motherboard and expects it to be activated. Without the
MSA for tracking purposes, it's harder to prove what license
is involved and why it should be activated. Since no one
has posted an experience involving that sort of details,
there's no confirmation of any "generous" support behavior.

I had a WinXP install on a different motherboard work
for a System Builder OEM. The terms of the license
should not allow that, but it activated. There had not
been a lot of install attempts on that particular license.
Which really should not have made a difference, as OEM
isn't move-able. I got rid of my VIA motherboard, because
there was a problem with PCI bus behavior, so I got an
Intel chipset motherboard instead (with a different
NIC MAC value).

Â*Â* Paul


It is a vm. The only that that changed was the USB flash drives.
I did a full wipe of the hard drive before upgrading from 1803 to 1809


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