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So I have a laptop that originally had Windows 7 installed on it-which was upgraded to Windows 10 when Microsoft offered it for free.

I want to replace the actual hard drive with an SSD.

However, I'm getting different advice among people on how to reinstall Windows without having a problem.

I created a recovery drive using the Windows 10 utility. It clearly says on Microsoft's website that with this recovery drive: "you'll be able to use the recovery drive to reinstall Windows 10".

However, I've been told by some people that what I need to do is create a Windows 10 installation media from the .iso file from Microsoft's website.

So I am confused, will my actual recovery USB be fine just to reinstall Windows 10 on the laptop? What about the license key? Because what I most likely have is just the Windows 7 key that was initially on the computer, unless that even the original Windows 7 key was digital. I do not know the actual Windows 10 key that the laptop has at the moment.

Ramhound
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William Weifenbach
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2 Answers2

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Windows 10 will automatically reactivate after you perform a clean install and reconnect to the Internet.

Once a computer is activated with Windows 10, whether it was a Windows 7 upgrade or a direct Windows 10 installation, Microsoft's licensing servers are able to recognize the system's hardware and will automatically activate it if it's ever reinstalled from scratch.

You no longer need to manually enter a license key on this computer in order to use it with Windows 10.

  1. Create Windows 10 installation media using any 4 GB or larger flash drive.

  2. Reinstall Windows 10 from scratch. There's no need to perform an intermediate installation using Windows 7.

  3. Windows 10 will automatically reactivate as soon as it connects to the Internet.

Will my actual recovery USB be fine to just reinstall Windows 10 on the laptop?

You don't want to use that for a reinstall. Download the latest version of Windows 10 from the Microsoft website so you have fewer updates to install afterwards.

It usually only takes about 10-15 minutes to create the installation media, including downloading the latest version from scratch. Trying to cut corners here is a false economy as you'll just spend more time updating Windows 10 afterwards.

Mr Ethernet
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In fact, you need to create bootable CD/USB from ISO image you'll download. Recovery drive which you create, usually used to make such features as factory reset working if your system drive, for example, encrypted with BitLocker. Speaking about license, you will be required to buy a new one as Microsoft offered free upgrade to Windows 10 only for a limited time. Consider downloading ISO from Microsoft website and using tools such as Rufus to create bootable drive for your Windows installation(it will work just fine)

dragonhaze
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