Hello all.

I've been playing on PC for a little over 4 years now. My first purchase was a prebuilt PC. Over the years, I bought one extra hard drive, upgraded multiple things such as the case, motherboard, CPU and the GPU a few times. However I've never replaced my original HDD, just bought another to download Steam games to. I checked my device manager and it says my main HDD is a Hitachi HDS721050.

I've heard having Windows installed on a SSD is a bit faster than an HDD. Is this upgrade worth it? If so, is it possible for me to transfer my Windows activation over? When I bought the prebuilt PC, the seller did include the copy of Windows 7 with the activation key. Sadly, I believe that's long gone and in a landfill somewhere. I'm currently running Windows 10 just from free upgrades over time. I'm not interested in using a non-genuine copy of Windows. So, is it possible to do a fresh/clean install of Windows 10 on a new SSD without owning the original Win 7 activation code I started with? Or would I have to purchase another Windows key?

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

Booting Windows from an SSD is one of the single biggest quality of life improvements you can make to a PC, so it's absolutely worthwhile. Windows 10 licenses are based on a hash of several hardware components in your PC, such that changing one won't revoke the license (the one exception is the motherboard, but you can usually get around that by contacting Microsoft). So, as long as you don't replace every component in your system, you'll be fine. As of the Anniversary Update, the license is also tied to your Microsoft account, so when you reinstall you'll just need to enter your email address and password and Microsoft will automatically re-activate your machine.

Yes, you can transfer Windows 10 to an SSD without the need for the key, since you updated it from an activated version of Windows 7. It recognizes identifying information from your motherboard to confirm that it's on the same computer. Which specific information, and how? I don't really know. But, I know it works, because I've done it. Definitely do a completely fresh install and format the HDD (backup anything you want to keep, obviously).

An SSD will make more difference than just about any other upgrade you can make. Using a computer without an SSD as the primary drive is painful once you've used an SSD based machine.

If all you want to do is a clean Windows 10 install, you can use a program like Produkey to find your Windows 10 product key. Just make the install media using Microsoft's tool and use the key to reinstall. You may not even need the key if you aren't changing any hardware.

@intro: Check this out. Should answer most of your questions; seems they tie it to something specific with your hardware, although they are a bit cagey about the whole thing:

When reinstalling Windows 10 after a hardware change–especially a motherboard change–be sure to skip the “enter your product key” prompts while installing it.

Microsoft has never actually wanted to explain exactly how the hardware-based Windows activation process works. Just replacing your hard drive or upgrading your graphics card shouldn’t cause a problem. If you’ve just changed a few peripherals, Windows 10 may just automatically activate itself after you clean-install it. But, if you’ve changed the motherboard or just a lot of other components, Windows 10 may see your computer as a new PC and may not automatically activate itself.

Head to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and you’ll see a “Troubleshoot” option if activation failed. Click that option and sign in with the Microsoft account you associated your license with. You’ll be able to tell Windows that you “changed hardware on this device recently” and select your PC from a list of devices associated with your Microsoft account. Microsoft’sdocumentation now explains exactly how this works.

Wow, thanks for all the great info guys! Really appreciate it. I've changed my MOBO years ago and don't plan on changing it any time soon, so I should be all set.

Awesome to hear they tie the activation to your account, that helps a consumer like me out so damn much. Really didn't wanna buy it again.

Looks like an SSD will be my next purchase for my PC!

If you want it for the OS then absolutely it is worth it, and if your windows is OEM it should be tied to that motherboard so it should work. Also if you have changed your mobo with that OS before it is possible it is not an OEM so then it wouldn't matter anyway.

I would also get a back up HDD for that old one as it could go with no notice and it sucks to lose data like that.

If you don't want to go through reinstalling Windows at all, you should be able to clone your hard drive onto the SSD. Download some cloning software like EaseUS, install your SSD, boot from the old hard drive, and then clone it over to the SSD. Then change your boot order so it boots from the SSD instead and make sure everything still works alright, and you should be set.

Update: Finally bought an SSD and damn, having Windows on it is fantastic. You guys were right, thanks lol!