Computer Broken Install OEM Windows on New Machine

I purchased an HP laptop that is completely broken, the hard drive and other components no longer work. I would like to reinstall windows on a new machine I am building. I have a product key according to the sticker and I legally purchased this copy. I am unsure of Microsoft policy. I know I cannot have more than one machine running the same copy of windows at the same time.

The Product Key on the laptop sticker cannot be used to activate a Windows installation on another machine if the laptop has an OEM license.

If, by chance, the laptop has a non-OEM license, you could reinstall on another machine and use the same product key.

It's a near certainty the laptop has an OEM license---unless you or someone else deliberately installed another version of Windows after the laptop was purchased.

You are generally correct: one license on one machine.

If you have an OEM license and try to install on another machine or even the same machine with a different motherboard, you will likely have activation issues.

If you have a "retail" license, you could install it on dozens of machines with dozens of different motherboards---, but ONLY ONE AT A TIME.

jcol said:

I purchased an HP laptop that is completely broken, the hard drive and other components no longer work. I would like to reinstall windows on a new machine I am building. I have a product key according to the sticker and I legally purchased this copy. I am unsure of Microsoft policy. I know I cannot have more than one machine running the same copy of windows at the same time.

If you're referring to the sticker on the laptop, you have an OEM license. In principle, it's locked to the original PC, which is defined by its motherboard. It's legitimate to repair the PC by replacing a broken motherboard, but it's supposed to be an exact copy. (The new MB usually would have a built-in network controller, and its new MAC address would require activating Windows again.) If an exact replacement MB isn't available, Microsoft might permit you to activate Windows again on a replacement MB that is different from the first.

One of the reasons that OEM windows licenses are cheaper than retail ones is that the retail license can be legitimately transferred to a new machine, and the OEM ones cannot.

I doubt that you could persuade them to give you an activation code for an entirely different sort of PC, but you could try. Are you a good maker-up of stories?

Have you confirmed which hardware is "broken" and that it is positively not the OS which is repairing using steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

You can replace the HD or RAM if you confirm either is bad using the tests at the beginning Note of the tutorial.