Re-using my SSD drive?
- Thread starter swchoi89
- Start date
You can reinstall windows on an SSD as often as you want. The OS if you are using an OEM version is tied to the motherboard, not the HDD or SSD. The retail version of an OS can be installed as many times as you want but must be uninstalled from the previous machine.
jamesd1981
Active Member
It depends what os you are going to install, as stated above for most versions of windows you get either oem which is locked to the first machine it is installed on, you also get full retail box set which you can move from one pc to another as long as it is installed in only one pc at a time.
The exception is windows 8, as microsoft in their endless need for greed, do not provide a full retail copy of windows 8 so no matter what version of windows 8 you install it will be fixed to that machine.
The exception is windows 8, as microsoft in their endless need for greed, do not provide a full retail copy of windows 8 so no matter what version of windows 8 you install it will be fixed to that machine.
So how does it recognize when I actually "uninstall" the OS? If I am using retail version, can I just remove my SSD and connect it to another motherboard, just like that?
So, Windows 7 should be flexible then right?
How do I tell the machine that I am "uninstalling" my windows from the current machine?
Ok, so I'm not permanently locked to a single motherboard then? That was my concern. I wanted to sell my rig (have no time to use it at all) and just keep the SSD so I don't have to deal with moving my files and whatnot...
2048Megabytes
Active Member
About everyone is violating Microsoft's End User License agreement in one way or another. I personally do not care what Microsoft's policies are anymore. They attempt to lay an iron yoke on us all with all of their rules. If they cannot enforce them why try to comply? I try not to distribute software that is copyrighted and I leave it at that.