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December 6th, 2022 15:00
Moving Windows 11 installation to new drive
I have a new (still in box, never powered up) laptop that allegedy comes with Windows 11 Home edition installed. I want to put it on a larger drive, and be able to dual boot with Linux. I do have other computers that I can use to do the data transfers, all using Linux. I don't think that is going to be any part of my problem.
I am a complete Windows newbie, and don't know how the licensing and authentication process works. I'm worried that I will deleted or modify something that invalidates my Windows license if I don't do things correctly. It would be helpful for someone to explain the license processes that I will need to use. Feel free to be very detailed.
JOcean
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12.6K Posts
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December 7th, 2022 09:00
The Windows License is linked to the BIOS and your MS account. If you were to wipe the drive completely and clean install Windows, it will still activate properly. I have replaced drives and formatted many times and have never had a problem with activation.
theNbomr
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December 12th, 2022 13:00
Since I've never done anything to create a MS account before, where is the record of my license held? How would I do a fresh install? There is no installation media shipped with my computer.
Thanks for your reply. I think I need more details about how the process works.
JOcean
9 Legend
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12.6K Posts
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December 12th, 2022 15:00
If you have an MS mail account or log into Windows using a password or a PIN, then you have an MS account. But in addition to that the key is stored in the BIOS and you could wipe out the drive completely and clean install or Clone Windows and it will auto activate. I have done this any number of times and have always had Windows activate normally. And for the record no one gets installation media anymore, that has been the procedure since Windows 8.1.
NJDave
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December 13th, 2022 13:00
In addition to the BIOS and (potentially) your Microsoft account, I've also seen articles that state that at least since Windows 10 debuted, Microsoft's activation servers keep a record of your system and recognize it when you validate your license online. ("Activation" is Microsoft's term for license validation.) I don't know how true (or even feasible!) that is, but I've never had any problems re-activating a license on a system after reinstalling Windows.
Assuming your laptop is a Dell, you have multiple ways to reinstall Windows. Besides Microsoft's standard Windows installation process, Dell provides a couple of methods for returning the system boot drive to factory state. That includes the original OS version, all the drivers, and a Dell-specific recovery environment for returning the system to the aforementioned factory state. I'm not sure how compatible the Dell tools are to dual-booting Linux, however.
Microsoft's Windows 11 download site is here. Actually the easiest way to install is to run the Windows media creation tool to create bootable USB installation media, but that requires a Windows system to run the tool. You can download the ISO on Linux, but with recent versions of Windows, I've had problems building usable USB installation media from an ISO image. (You could always burn a DVD.)
I don't have much experience with a dual-boot environment. I tried it some years ago with Windows and Linux Mint, and ended up blowing away my GRUB bootloader during a Mint upgrade. I don't know if techniques have changed since then.
Actually since you've never used Windows before: rather than dual-boot, or as a stepping-stone, you might run one OS native and the other in a VirtualBox virtual machine, if you have enough CPU and RAM. If you decided to have Linux running native and a Windows guest VM, your laptop's Windows license wouldn't apply, but you likely wouldn't need one.