To activate Win 11, what types of older license are good?

I am good to go with it now; changed key and activated Windows 11 Pro on it

From reading through this thread I see I may be able to use my Windows 7 Pro CoA key to upgrade my new Windows 11 Home machine to Pro.

However, I used that Win 7 Pro key a couple of years ago to upgrade my Win 10 Home machine to Pro and my MS account shows that machine with Pro.

I intend to keep the old Win 10 machine in use.

Q 1. I believe I need to uninstall or deactivate that key before I reuse it. Do I do that by unlinking that machine from my MS account?

Q 2. Is there anything I should do before I plug in the new Win 11 machine?

It may not be necessary. I would try to use the key again and see what happens. If I could not activate Windows 11, I would consider deactivate the other computer, otherwise why do that.

spapakons said:

It may not be necessary. I would try to use the key again and see what happens. If I could not activate Windows 11, I would consider deactivate the other computer, otherwise why do that.

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To comply with the EULA, which Microsoft seems to have no interest in taking steps to enforce.

You should deactivate the other computer if you plan to use both at the same time. According to Microsoft using two computers with the same license is not allowed. But if you have the other computer as backup, and not for everyday use, why deactivate it? Technically you won't be using both computers at the same time, you will mostly use Windows 11. I would not deactivate it. Nobody can come to your house and check without a Warrant, it's illegal. If you are a business, like a small office, things are different. But for home use I wouldn't care. Small business can purchase a genuine license for just 50€. Since it is medialess, there is no DVD or USB and package to pay for, you can only buy the key which is sent to you by e-mail. Then you download Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft's site and use the key to activate. Perfectly legal.

spapakons said:

You should deactivate the other computer if you plan to use both at the same time. According to Microsoft using two computers with the same license is not allowed. But if you have the other computer as backup, and not for everyday use, why deactivate it? Technically you won't be using both computers at the same time, you will mostly use Windows 11. I would not deactivate it. Nobody can come to your house and check without a Warrant, it's illegal. If you are a business, like a small office, things are different. But for home use I wouldn't care. Small business can purchase a genuine license for just 50€. Since it is medialess, there is no DVD or USB and package to pay for, you can only buy the key which is sent to you by e-mail. Then you download Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft's site and use the key to activate. Perfectly legal.

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Well here is the thing - once a pc has a digital licence, you cannot deactivate old pc - it is impossible. So even if you use slmgr etc, the digital licence remains. So users cannot comply with EULA!


So the ONLY way you can comply with EULA is to actually remove Windows altogether!

I stress that I do not advocate piracy, but MS have created a situation whereby the only way to comply with EULA really is to not reuse a key if you wish to keep Windows on old PC but buy a new one for new PC. Back in W7/8 days, you could deactivate W7 or W8 and people did in case key got blocked.

So I agree that one should consider the spirit of EULA i.e. one licence per pc. If you are only intending to use one pc at a time, and licence is transferable anyway, then that (as you allude to) is (imo) reasonable.

If however, you give pc away to a sibling say, then that is more questionable.

The really absurd case is if you wipe windows from old pc, and sell it (without windows), and user installs same edition it will activate - is new user guilty of piracy or just "lucky"?

Equally, if you sell pc with it activated, then as seller you are technically selling a pirated version if you reuse same key.

Frankly, I do not think MS could sue individuals as any even mediocre lawyer could drive a juggernaut through the holes in the EULA.

cereberus said:

The really absurd case is if you wipe windows from old pc, and sell it (without windows), and user installs same edition it will activate - is new user guilty of piracy or just "lucky"?

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Not just whole PCs, there are well reported cases on Ten Forums of second hand motherboards that came with an unexpected digital licence.

Let's not be paranoid. Your old PC could have died and you buy a new PC. Then what? You would also buy a new Windows license for it? Not me, I would use the existing license and activate by phone, if I cannot do so online. As long as it still activates, that's OK with me. If the key has reached the maximum activations, then I would consider buying a new key. As long as you don't sell or give away your old PC you are perfectly legal.

Before you judge me, answer this simple question... Haven't you ever done it (use an old key on a new computer)? I am sure you did! "The sinless let cast the first stone", as Jesus had said.

Yes, you can use a old key you simply call MS and tell them the PC died and they will deactivate the license on said pc and activate it on your new PC i have done many times, with MS support over the years. but if you just do it and they see you have it active on 2 pc and it's a 1 license key they could theoretically deactivate it on the pc, if they would or not i don't no.

That's true only if you run both computers at the same time, otherwise there is no way to know.

Bree said:

Not just whole PCs, there are well reported cases on Ten Forums of second hand motherboards that came with an unexpected digital licence.

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For sure, this will happen as digital licence is attached to mobo.

Yes, but if the rest of the hardware is different from the original, it should ask again for activation. The new user will benefit only if he gets the PC as it is, not only the motherboard. Most will install Windows anyway before giving it.

spapakons said:

Let's not be paranoid. Your old PC could have died and you buy a new PC. Then what? You would also buy a new Windows license for it? Not me, I would use the existing license and activate by phone, if I cannot do so online. As long as it still activates, that's OK with me. If the key has reached the maximum activations, then I would consider buying a new key. As long as you don't sell or give away your old PC you are perfectly legal.

Before you judge me, answer this simple question... Haven't you ever done it (use an old key on a new computer)? I am sure you did! "The sinless let cast the first stone", as Jesus had said.

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As an atheist, the last sentence has no meaning to me.

Who was questioning reusing a licence of old mobo/pc died. MS introduced the link of digital licence for precisely that situation, and is 100% legitimate albeit EULA doew not truly cover that case.

In any case, you obviously do not realise the limit on activations of a key was only a sift limit and you could reset it using telephone activation.


Moreover, keys in Windows 10 are merely used to verify you have a valid licence - they jey is not the licence in the classic W7/8 sense. Think of the digital licence as a lock and the key as just that. You use the key to unlock the lock. Once unlocked, the key is never needed again as a digital licence cannot be revoked i.e. lock is permanently open.

As the licensing mechanism is different, and there is (as far as we can tell) no record of what key invoked a digital licence, I very much doubt MS even bother keepingin a record of number of times key has been used to get a digital licence.

In the end, it is all about honesty - I like to think vast majority are honest and would not pursue wholesale piracy. However, MS introduced a lot of leniency with Windows 10 e.g. you can activate with oem keys on new devices, can run unactivated etc.

MS are clearly not interested in minor EULA violation, as it has minor financial impact, and they probably make more out of advertising.. However, they do block volune licence keys used for wholesale piracy. They are only interested in the major teansgressors who do hurt them financially.

Digital license is linked to the hardware. If the hardware is different, it might not be possible to activate again with the same key.

spapakons said:

Yes, but if the rest of the hardware is different from the original, it should ask again for activation. The new user will benefit only if he gets the PC as it is, not only the motherboard. Most will install Windows anyway before giving it.

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That is not true. The unique hardware ID is based 99% on the characteristics of the motherboard, and the other components do not make up enough of a percentage in the calculation to change the computer's unique hardware ID.

spapakons said:

but if the rest of the hardware is different from the original, it should ask again for activation.

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@NavyLCDR is correct, the motherboard is the main part of the hardware ID. Kari explains it in detail here....

The Windows 10 Digital License is based on HWID 3. As long as the Windows edition, motherboard and CPU remain the same, once the computer has been activated, all future clean installs on that computer also will activate automatically. Note that all HWIDs exclude storage media entirely. Thus, on a PC with Windows 10 activated, you can replace its storage (HDD / SSD) devices with one or more new ones and clean install Windows 10 on a new disk. Even so, the PC will activate automatically based on that machine’s existing digital license.

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cereberus said:

As the licensing mechanism is different, and there is (as far as we can tell) no record of what key invoked a digital licence, I very much doubt MS even bother keepingin a record of number of times key has been used to get a digital licence.

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Microsoft does track the number of times a product key is used on different computers within certain time periods. Use a product key too many times on too many different computers within a certain time period and it will get blocked from automatic online use and then the user must call Microsoft in order to obtain activations with the product key until a certain time period of no use has passed and it will get unlocked. There is also a threshold where the product key will get blocked permanently. I do not know what it is, but let's say the same product key is used to activate 100 different computers in a single day - Microsoft is going to block it. There would be no legitimate reason for the owner of the product key to use it to activate 100 different computers in a single day.

Also, this is what the current EULA states regarding the transfer of the license:
Stand-alone software. If you acquired the software as stand-alone software (and also if you upgraded from software you acquired as stand-alone software), you may transfer the software to another device that belongs to you. You may also transfer the software to a device owned by someone else if (i) you are the first licensed user of the software and (ii) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. You may use the backup copy we allow you to make or the media that the software came on to transfer the software. Every time you transfer the software to a new device, you must remove the software from the prior device. You may not transfer the software to share licenses between devices.

I tried my Win 7 Pro key (that had been used successfully on the Win 10 machine) on the Win 11 Home machine I'm setting up - no luck.

Then I unlinked the Win 10 machine from my MS account and tried the key again. Still no luck. (The Win 10 machine was the only item in my MS account until I set up the new Win 11 machine a few days ago)

Was unlinking the Win 10 machine from my MS account the proper thing to do? If yes, is it time to just spend the money for a Pro license?

Just a minute! Since you have a Windows 7 Professional key, you can use it to activate Windows 11 Pro. Home version is incompatible with the key, so it won't activate. Upgrade to Pro using the key.

During installation you are asked to log into your Microsoft Account using your account email address. A successful log-in means your W10 or W11 machine is good to go. Might be a couple extra steps but always using the same Microsoft Account is the best way to go IMHO.

NOTE: I always recommend to my friends to create a Microsoft account and logging into that account during setup. You can skip the key during setup. Once logged into your Microsoft account your good to go. example email address: 123*****@outlook.com .

PLUS: Anything you ever purchased through your primary Microsoft account is permanently in your Purchase History.

You don't have to have an outlook.com account. You just have to remember the email address and password you used on your prior machine. An upgrade from W10 to W11 uses your already connected Microsoft Account email address.

When you visit your account through a web browser and log-in, you can click "Devices" and see all your registered devices. In my case, three machines registered under the same Microsoft Account.

Still using my first email address for all interactions and sites at Microsoft: ***********@hotmail.com (Microsoft owns Hotmail, MSN, Live and Outlook.