Score:0

If I install Ubuntu on my windows laptop, will I lose my windows license?

me flag

I just bought a new laptop with windows 10 installed (HP Pavilion). My windows license is an OEM license. If I erase windows and install ubuntu on my laptop, will I be able to reinstall windows with the same license in the future on this laptop? Or will I have to purchase windows again?

Zeiss Ikon avatar
cn flag
Seems like this is mainly a Windows question -- perhaps you should ask Microsoft?
us flag
`Will I be able to reinstall windows with the same license in the future on this laptop` -- Nowadays Windows recognizes the hardware, and does not require a product key. You can create system backup DVDs in Windows itself.
Score:5
cn flag

Microsoft has moved away from product keys toward checking hardware directly.

Data point: I recently replaced the faulty SSD in a Windows (OEM License) box. Any Product Key would have been on that SSD and unrecoverable. With the new hardware in place, an ordinary Windows 10 installer correctly recognized the hardware and installed a authorized version of Windows without any complaint nor prompting for a Product Key.

However, had I replaced the motherboard, the Windows installer would have prompted me to purchase the new copy of Windows.

You can safely install Ubuntu over Windows 10 (OEM) without preserving a Product Key. Windows should reinstall properly.

  • You might want to preserve your Microsoft login credentials.
  • You SHOULD preserve your Product Key for Non-OEM installs. You CAN preserve your product key for any Windows install.
  • Installing Microsoft products depends upon Microsoft, not upon Ubuntu. Microsoft can change their policy or methods at any time, and there is nothing we can do about it. YOU are their customer.
Score:3
ng flag

On Windows, open system settings and search "Activation".

If it says "Windows is activated with a digital license", then you can reinstall Windows in the future without a product key and it will automatically reactivate when you connect to the internet.

However if you change out the motherboard, having a new motherboard is considered by Microsoft to be a new computer and you will need a new license.

Score:0
id flag

Yes, as per other answers you should be fine. I've put Ubuntu on an old (circa 2010) Dell desktop computer that initially had Windows 7 on it, then gave it to my son (Windows had become very slow). I put a new SSD in it and new graphics card and it worked well. He subsequently needed Windows for a couple of things so I downloaded Windows 10 to set up as dual boot, and to my surprise Windows activated automatically (despite the OEM installation being Win 7). You should be able to change all the hardware, with the exception of the motherboard, and it will still be recognised as a licensed version.

You might want to consider setting it up as dual boot now so that you don't have to do anything to go back to Windows if you ever want to.

raj avatar
cn flag
raj
Note: I had a computer with Windows 10 OEM preinstalled on an entire drive and when I shrunk the Windows partition to make space for Ubuntu dual-boot, Windows suddenly lost its digital license. I had to reactivate it again using product key (I'm not using it anyway; I never booted to Windows after the initial setup so I consider deleting it altogether). So it may also happen to you if you convert your machine to dual-boot.
Serket avatar
me flag
Does dual booting slow down the computer? What are the disadvantages of dual booting? It just seems too good to be true.
Will avatar
id flag
@Serket - good question! Advantages - best of both worlds as you say, and won't slow down the computer if the SDD / HD has enough space - only 1 OS is in use at a time. Disadvantages - (1) Both OSs take up space on the hard drive so you might need a bigger drive; (2) can be a faff to set up; (3) files aren't always easy to share between the OSs so you may have to shut down and boot into the other to find something; (4) I guess potentially maybe more likely to have a boot failure if one (Win usually) does something bad to the boot sequence. But personally I've only had positive experiences.
Will avatar
id flag
I am interested in @raj response - not something I've personally experienced. No idea why he/she had such a different experience but I guess it's therefore something that *might* happen? My experience has always been that Windows / MS just recognises something on the mobo and it activates itself automatically.
raj avatar
cn flag
raj
@Will - Ubuntu will access files on Windows partition without problems; however the other way not, it may require installing some third-party filesystem drivers in Windows but I have no experience with them. As for losing the license, I don't know why it happened; I didn't investigate it further as I was able to successfully reactivate.
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