Rotating Machines
I have 3 machines and 3 ATI2016 licenses. One is being used for the Windows 7 Ultra system. Two licenses are used as detailed below. My goal is to swap Operating Systems between the two other machines as follows: (please assume that the hardware I have will not prevent me from following these procedures)
METHOD 1 (kind of complicated):
I want to move Windows 8.1 OS from one machine to my Windows 7 Home Premium machine which currently has no ATI2016 product installed. I would likely use Universal Restore. This should free up my copy of Windows 7 Home Premium.
Once that is done, I want to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto the machine which had Windows 8.1 on it. This will leave me with all 3 licenses used. All 3 machines have the NIC built in to the mother boards.
The FAQ states the the W-8.1 system must be decommissioned. Is there any way that I can decommission the machine, so that I can load Windows 7 Home Premium (from installation diskettes) and activate it, then install ATI2016 on it.
There are 2 major concerns: 1) Windows 8.1 requires a GPT disk. The 8.1 system was originally an upgrade to Windows XP, then to AHCI disk mode, then to Windows 8, and finally to Windows 8.1. (2) How to resolve the decommission issue on the original W8.1 system. I am thinking I could install my unused ATI2016 on the target system (which would now be running Windows 8.1) then install the previously used ATI2016 license on the original Windows 8.1 machine.
METHOD 2 (much simpler):
It may be simpler to reinstall Windows XP and Upgrade to 8.1,which would free up my W7 HP disks, then install my last remaining licensed ATI2016 there. If I did this, I should be able to "reinstall" my original ATI2016 from the Windows 8.1 machine which would now be a Window 7 machine. Does anyone know for sure if this would work? I'm not sure how the decommissioning process works.
Thoughts?
Jack
Thanks for quick answer Steve. Actually, your second statement is the root of my problem. I'm concerned about the Universal Restore moving the license for ATI to another machine. Since the ATI license is tied to the MAC address on the NIC (which in my case is on each machine's mother board), I'm hoping that I'll be able to reinstall the "currently used" activation codes on the same piece of hardware, and install whatever OS I want to the systems. I'm thinking my METHOD 2 in the OP might be more practical, but I was hoping that someone may be able to confirm it. All OS disks were purchased either through Microsoft or Redmond. My intent is to upgrade to W10 from 2 W7 systems, but "move" W8.1 to a HTPC machine and not upgrade that system.
Jack, when you say you have 3 licenses for ATIH 2016 do you mean that you have 3 different license keys for this one product or are you like myself and have one license key that is valid for use on 3 systems?
I know this is a subtle difference but if the latter, each machine would still have the same license key before and after the move. If you have 3 different license keys, then you should still be able to use the options in ATIH to change the license key and enter the correct one for that particular hardware but you will need to make a note of what each license serial number is on each machine. This can be displayed by clicking on the person icon in the GUI and click on Show serial number which will then also offer you an option to Change the serial number.
There are 2 major concerns: 1) Windows 8.1 requires a GPT disk.
This is incorrect. Windows 8.1 can be installed on an MBR formatted disk (from scratch). However, if you boot into the UEFI mode of your Windows installer, it will default to GPT/UEFI. IF you boot into Legacy/CSM/BIOS mode of the installer and your disk is ALREADY formatted as MBR (must be 2GB or less drive), then it will install as MBR. There is no advantage to using MBR over UEFI though. You would only have issues if you planned to restore an existing GPT/UEFI OS install to an MBR/BIOS configured drive/motherboard.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn336946.aspx
Reboot the PC in legacy BIOS-compatibility mode. This option lets you keep the existing partition style. For more info, see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
As for ATIH licensing, as Steve mentioned, if the hardware is the same, you can install and reinstall ATIH as much as you want - even if multiple OS are on they system.
As for Windows licensing. OEM licenses are tied to the original machine (motherboard). With Win 8.1 and earlier, you cannot legally move an OEM license to another motherboard. However, if you contact Microsoft and tell them you're having a licensing issue, they may be able to give you an authorization key to activate the existing license.
Wow, thanks Steve. I never noticed before, but mine is like yours, with same serial for all 3 systems. That simplifies things a lot, because I think Universal Restore will be simpler than going through the upgrades and ACHI changes from XP to get back to 8.1.
I just got your reply to this via email. Thanks for the tip on MBR vs GPT. I'll have to make sure that the target disk is configured for GPT before I begin the UR. The instructions to do that are in my User Guide for that machine.
Thanks again...Jack
Jack,
If the Universal Restore of Windows 8.1 goes south, Microsoft has a tool that can be used to download Windows 8.1 installation media. This will allow you to directly install Windows 8.1 without going through all of the hassle of installing the previous operating systems and upgrading over and over. The installation media doesn't accept Windows 8 keys on the initial install so you will need to select the option to skip entering the key and continue. After the installation is complete and Windows 8.1 is running you'll be prompted to activate Windows. Now it will accept your Windows 8 key but you will probably have to go through the automated Windows activation wizard because of the hardware change. Future reinstalls of Windows 8.1 with the Windows 8 key on the same hardware will auto activate.