Hi! I wasn’t sure where to put this, support didn’t seem like the right place as I’m looking for ideas. I’ve pre-ordered the FW12 DIY so I should get it in a few months! I plan on using Windows 11; I didn’t buy a license since AFAIK I have “a digital license linked to my Microsoft account.” I run Windows 10 on my current computer, so I’m hoping that because I’m eligible to upgrade I won’t run into issues using 11 on my new FW.
My question is this: I’m getting impatient, and I’d like to play around with Windows 11 sooner rather than later so I can configure the settings I want ahead of time instead of waiting to clean install it before tweaking. It seems like the way to do this would be to dual-boot 11 on my current computer in addition to the existing 10 OS, and download the recovery media to a flash drive. But I’m hesitant to do this until I know for sure it’ll work. Will Microsoft flag me using both at once as suspicious activity? (I had planned on deactivating my old computer once my new FW was up and running to avoid any issues.) Recovery media is meant for use on a single device; would moving it to a new device altogether violate any ToS, and does Microsoft enforce this? If I decided to dual-boot 11 using a local unactivated account, would I be able to access all possible settings and then connect it to my Microsoft account later? If anyone has experience with this please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!
Windows 10 licenses are valid for windows 11, in most cases.
upgrade should work just fine and leave you with valid system and a valid license. Though as always with OS upgrades, it’s always a good idea to have a full disk backup, just in case.
alternatively, you can perform a fresh install and when it asks for a license key as part of the install select “I don’t have one” then when you login to your mocrosoft account it should recognize you are on the same hardware and provision your original license that is linked to your microsoft account.
on the gripping hand, if neither approach works, there is always the option of Linux, or the use of a key resale site. There’s a bunch of key purchase sites around offering windows licenses for as little as 15$, so they’re an option too. You’ll have to do your own research into what ones are available in your region if you decide to go that route.
But really the upgrade install or clean install and login to your online account to access the digital license should get you where you need to be
If you dual boot, you shouldn’t use the same licence for both installations if you’re still using them both. It might work, at least initially, but it’s against the rules and if their systems notice, Microsoft might, at least in theory, invalidate the licence key.
Running one of them unlicensed would work and probably wouldn’t cause you much of a problem because, as I understand it, almost everything works fine on an unlicensed copy of Windows.
What about if I’m not on the same hardware though? I’ll be switching from my current computer to my FW eventually. So, even if I test it out on my current computer and Microsoft recognizes it’s the same hardware, what will happen if I back it up, place it on my new computer and login using my Microsoft account there? Maybe would unlinking the Windows 11 on my old computer before logging into the new one solve that problem, so there’s only one copy of it connected to my account?
Based on what you said, here’s a scenario: I dual-boot Windows 11 onto my current computer, and opt not to use a product key/ login to my account. I play around with that unlicensed version, and when I’m ready back up recovery media for it onto a USB drive. I use that USB drive to install Windows 11 onto my FW, and afterwards log into my Microsoft account. Would that work? Would I be able to keep my Windows 10 activated until I’m sure it’s set up properly, or would I need to deactivate it before linking the Windows 11?
Thank you both!
Other info: I’m fairly certain I got my Windows 10 by OEM activation. But in my settings it says “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.” I assumed this meant I could use that license on any computer as long as I’m doing it by the books. I’m starting to doubt though if I’ll need to buy a new license altogether, since I’d be switching computers? Why would it link to my Microsoft account if it’s going to be device-specific
If you have an OEM key (doesn’t matter who it is from) they are NOT transferrable to another computer per the Microsoft License Agreement. Only RETAIL (not even upgrade keys) licenses are allowed to be moved to another computer.
The “Windows is activated with a digital license” means the key is stored in the cloud and registered with your original hardware it was activated on. If your HDD/SSD were to suddenly croak and you had no backup; you could reinstall the operating system and sign in with your Microsoft account and it would retrieve the key for that hardware identifier.
Most of the settings you will want to play with are fairly easily configurable. You can install Windows 11 and just never activate it. You will be limited in what you can customize in the OS though. This will give you time to experiment with the OS before your new machine arrives. You can still create a local account too so it will not be tied to your Microsoft account. (Google the newer methods on how to do this; they have changed in the last few months)
It is always advisable to do a fresh install on new hardware. Recovering from a backup also recovers things that may not be necessary or just take up extra resources in your operating systems. Over time nearly all operating systems have clutter that keeps accumulating. Ask anyone who has upgraded their machine from Windows 7 to 10 to 11; there is a ton of crap that will never be used but came along for the ride in the time the machine was in use.