Complete Guide to Move Windows 10 to a New Computer
Nowadays, due to various reasons, many users want to move Windows 10 to a new computer. Maybe the computer is too old, it runs too slow and the program takes too long to load; or your computer crashes but you don't have a system image for it; or the new computer is a bare computer. Is it possible to make it? If so, how to migrate Windows 10 system? Please continue to learn more in this article.
Can I move Windows 10 to new computer?
"Hello everyone, I have a question: I am building a new PC and I want to sell my old one. But I want to keep the HDD of my old PC with Windows 10 installed. I was wondering if I can move Windows 10 to new computer with dissimilar hardware, will it automatically run Windows or do I need to purchase a new product key? Thanks in advance."
You can definitely move Windows 10 to new computer, and boot from it successfully, but with some caveats. Please read this article to learn more about this and the operating steps.
Is Windows 10 license types transferable?
In fact, there are 3 different license types in Windows 10, some of them can be transferred, and it is usually tied to the important hardware of your computer, motherboard, for instance, and some can't. Thus, if you want to transfer Windows 10 to a new computer permanently, you need to check your license type and if it's transferrable.
- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): This license comes preinstalled on the hardware (ie, motherboard) of your computer and it's tied to the first computer, so you cannot transfer Windows 10 license to new computer. Note that you can transfer Windows 10 OEM license to new hard drive and your system will be activated once you connect it to a network.
- Retail: This license is purchased online and can be transferred to another computer once. If you free upgrade from a retail copy of Windows 7, Windows 8 or 8.1, the Windows 10 license still keeps the retail rights from which it is derived.
- Volume: This license is used in large organizations, such as businesses, universities, or governments, and you can use one single license key to activate numerous installations.
Is it safe to migrate Windows 10 to new computer?
In general, there are two situations for system migration, and you are able to make it safe in this article:
- If your new computer has identical hardware to the old one, then the process to move Windows 10 to another computer is extremely simple and safe. You can simply install the old hard drive to the new computer, and boot from it.
- If your new computer has different hardware, usually, this is the situation most users face in system migration, since it's difficult to get a new computer with the same hardware or at least similar hardware. You may encounter hardware incompatibility issues, and lacking system drivers is the most likely cause of boot failure.
From above, you may clearly get the first situation is very easy and the easiest way is to find a reliable disk cloning software and clone Windows 10 to new computer with it.
But the second is a little tricky, may result in to an unbootable device, in this case, you may need to turn to a professional backup and restore software that supports dissimilar hardware restore. And I'll introduce you to one such software.
Best OS migration software for Windows PC
To move Windows 10 to another computer easily and securely, you need specialized OS migration software - Qiling Disk Master Professional. It provides two ways for successfully moving OS, Disk Clone and Dissimilar Hardware Restore.
✦ Disk Clone
It copies everything from the old computer hard drive to the new computer hard drive, including the OS, programs and user files. It requires the two computers have identical hardware, or you may encounter boot issues after cloning.
✦ Dissimilar Hardware Restore
It restores a disk image or system image to a new computer with different hardware. At the same time, it ensures a successful boot after recovery.
Please download it to have a try!
How to move Windows 10 to new computer
To transfer Windows 10 to another computer, you can choose to clone hard drive in Windows 10 or restore Windows backup image to new computer, depending on the computer hardware. Before starting, you need to make some preparations:
- For method 1, you need to prepare a USB-to-SATA cable to connect the new computer hard drive. If the new computer uses an M.2 slot, you need to prepare an M.2 connector, USB-to-M.2 SATA or USB-to-M.2 NVMe, for example.
- For method 2, you need to prepare a storage device to save the backup image and a USB drive to create bootable media.
Then, select one of the following methods and learn how to copy Windows 10 from one PC to another.
- Method 1: Clone Windows 10 to new computer with same hardware
- Method 2: Move Windows 10 to a new computer with dissimilar hardware
Method 1: Clone Windows 10 to new computer with same hardware
Step 1. Connect the new computer hard drive to your old computer properly. Open Qiling Disk Master Professional. Click Clone > Disk Clone in order.
Step 2. Select the source disk (Basic GPT) on the Windows 10 computer and click Next. And usually, the disk contains your operating system, installed programs and files, etc.
Step 3. Select the destination disk (Basic GPT) and click Next.
Then, you will be told that the destination disk will be overwritten. So if there are any important files, you need to backup them in advance. If not, click OK to continue.
Step 4. Make sure you're selecting the right source and destination disks. Tick SSD Alignment to accelerate the reading and writing speed if the target disk is an SSD and click Proceed to start the process of cloning Windows 10 to new computer.
Notes:
- If you don't tick the Sector by sector clone feature, this software will clone only used sectors of hard drive in the old computer. It's amazing if you want to clone larger drive to smaller drive, even for different computers.
- If the target drive is larger, you need to enable the Edit Partitions feature to prevent cloned drive shows wrong size issue. Select Add unused space to all partitions unless you want to extend space for a specific partition, it's automatic and works well.
Step 5. Cloning can take a long time to complete, depending on the data stored. Wait until the process is complete, and click Finish to confirm it. Then, disconnect the target hard drive from your old computer and install it on new computer. Boot your new computer from the cloned drive. If it doesn't boot successfully, you need to set it as the first boot option.
Method 2: Move Windows 10 to a new computer with dissimilar hardware
Besides, this software still supports restoring Windows 10 image to new hard drive on a different computer, even with dissimilar hardware, since its Universal Restore feature helps install all the necessary drivers to start a computer. For other drivers, you need to download it yourself.
- For chipset, audio, etc, you can head to your PC manufacturer's website or motherboard manufacturer's website and download them.
- For graphics drivers, you can also head to Nvidia, AMD, or Intel's website.
Then, follow the video tutorial or detailed steps in the graphic tutorial to transfer Windows 10 hard drive to new computer.
Video Tutorial:
Graphic Tutorial:
Step 1. Create a disk image on old computer
Run Qiling Disk Master, click Backup and select Disk Backup to start the process of creating a disk backup image in Windows 10. You will be asked to select source disk and new drive for backup task and then click Start Backup.
Step 2. Create a bootable USB on old computer
Switch to Tools and select Create Bootable Media. Then, you will be asked to select bootable disc type (Windows PE or Linux), and storage device (USB, CD/DVD or ISO file).
Step 3. Restore disk image to new computer
Step 3.1. Insert the bootable USB to new computer and restart it, press a special key (eg: ESC, F11, F2, etc) to enter the BIOS mode. And then, set the bootable USB as first boot option, save changes and boot from it. After loading, Qiling Disk Master will pop up.
Step 3.2. To restore disk image, please connect the drive with the previously created disk image to your computer. Then, click Restore, and click Select Image File to find the external hard drive and disk image on it. It’s an image file with .fvd file extension.
Step 3.3. Choose Restore the entire disk, and then click Next.By default, this software will check the Universal Restore feature if it detected the new computer has different hardware.
Step 3.4. Select the hard drive on new computer to store the disk image. Then, click Next.
Step 3.5. Click SSD Alignment to improve SSD disk performance if you are moving Windows 10 to an SSD. Then, click Proceed to restore Windows 10 to new computer with dissimilar hardware.
Step 3.6. Restart your computer, and it will try to boot from the disk with restored OS. If not, please set it as first boot option in BIOS and try again.
Tip: To restore disk image to multiple computers, the easiest way is to deploy system image over network with "Qiling Image Deploy" feature. It's available on Qiling Disk Master Technician or TechPlus edition.
How to transfer Windows 10 license to new computer
If you are told that your Windows is not activated, you can reactivate it using Microsoft account. The premise is that you have linked the license to Microsoft account. If not, you need to deactivate it on the Windows 10 and then use it to activate new computer.
To check it out, open the old computer, press “Win + I” and go to “System” > “About” > “Windows Specifications” > “Change the product key or upgrade your edition of Windows”, then it will tell you if the Windows is activated, just like the message “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account”.
Then, select one of the following methods and activate your new computer with a Windows 10 license.
Method 1: Activate new computer with Microsoft account
For first situation, to reactivate Windows 10 on new computer, you just need to log in with the same Microsoft account and validate the license with the following steps.
Step 1. Log in to your account on microsoft.com, and navigate to My Microsoft Account page through this option under user account.
Step 2. Click View All Devices to check devices associated with account.
Step 3. Scroll down to and select the PC you wish to deactivate. Click Info and Support > Remove this Device > I'm ready to remove this device and Remove.
Step 4. Search activation, select Activation settings and open it. If you see your copy of Windows could not be activated, please continue to see steps below. If, for some reason, it says it has been activated, just exit this window and enjoy your new computer.
Step 5. Click Troubleshoot and I changed changed hardware on this device recently If it says Windows wad unable to activate.
Step 6. Select the new PC you are using, click this is the device I'm using right now and Activate. Wait a few seconds, you will get the Windows is activated message.
Method 2: Deactivate Windows 10 and reactivate new computer
If your license is not linked to Microsoft account, try this method. Below are steps to deactivate Windows 10 and reactivate new computer.
Step 1. Search cmd in the start menu and select Run as administrator.
Step 2. Typ the following command to uninstall product key from Windows and registry. Please remember to hit Enter in order.
- slmgr /upk
- slmgr. vbs /cpky
Step 3. Enter slmbr.vbs /dli to confirm you uninstall the product key successfully.
Step 4. Now go to the activation settings window again. Scroll down to Change product key and enter Windows 10 license key you previously uninstall.
Written in the end
With the help of Qiling Disk Master, you can easily move Windows 10 to new computer, even with different hardware. You can choose to clone disk in Windows 10 or restore backup image with its "Universal Restore" feature. Besides, there are some caveats you need to pay attention to, such as Windows license key, or hardware.
What's more, it's suggested to create a disk backup before you make a major change. To make it easier, you can create a portable version of Qiling Disk Master and run it off a flash drive. And it also allows you to deploy image to multiple computers over network at a time. Learn more on the edition comparison page.
Related Articles
- How Do I Backup My Dell Laptop with Windows 10?
In this article, you are going to backup Dell laptop with Windows 10 using Dell Backup and Recovery alternative. Here are 3 alternative backup software, but the last one is the best free. - How to Backup Programs before Reinstalling Windows 10/8/7?
This article will introduce you how to backup programs before reinstalling Windows 10/8/7 with best free backup software - Qiling Disk Master. - How to Resolve Dell Boot Loop in Windows 10 Easily?
Have you encountered Dell boot loop in Windows 10? Learn how to resolve the problem easily from this page. - How to Downgrade Laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1/7?
The details steps to downgrade laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 or 7 within or after 30 days. Freeware Qiling Disk Master allows you to go back to previous version of Windows at any time.