How to transfer windows

sorry for the confusion I am trying to do a clean install with a retail copy of windows. I just wanna know will I be able to activate that copy of windows on the new machine if its still on the old laptop thats all also is it possible to take the retail disk and make a boot able flash drive with it

bigboi972 said:

I just wanna know will I be able to activate that copy of windows on the new machine if its still on the old laptop thats all also is it possible to take the retail disk and make a boot able flash drive with it

I've reinstalled on a new hard drive connected to a new motherboard with a new CPU without ever "deactivating" or "uninstalling" from the old PC. I had no trouble activating the same retail license on the new hardware.

I suspect I would have run into trouble if I had then continued to use the old PC with the same license--particularly if I continued to get Windows Updates. I didn't do that. Instead, I installed Vista on the old PC and put it in the closet to be used only in an emergency.

I'm not sure how it works, but MS apparently has some sort of algorithm where it sniffs your PC. New hardware is generally tolerated without incident within reason if a retail license is found. I think the algorithm takes into account both the extent of the hardware changes and the frequency of the changes. You might have to activate by calling a number and interacting with a robotic voice or even possibly talking to a human at MS. I can't remember the exact details of the procedure that I once had to go through. I don't think I ever had to talk to a human.

As far as flash drives go, I think there is a way to transfer the contents of a retail DVD to a flash drive and make it bootable. Probably a tutorial on this site. You could also just download a legit Windows 7 ISO from Digital River and put it on a flash drive.