Windows 10 activation status after cloning

Question

Hi,

I purchased two HP ProBook's. Both laptops came with preinstalled Windows 10 Pro. As HP preinstalled Windows comes with so much bloatware and other totally unnecessary things, I decided to reinstall both laptops.

Before I started, I turned both laptops on and connected them to internet, so Windows can activate itself. After that I reinstalled first laptop (OS, drivers, local account, etc.) and connected it to internet to reactivate it. Then I cloned this freshly installed Windows 10 using built-in "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" tool and used it to reinstall second laptop and make all this reinstall process faster, both laptops are basically identical. Now both laptops has fresh Windows and both are activated, at least Windows shows message "Windows is activated with a digital license" on both laptops.

Now question is - is that right? Does Windows on second laptop is really activated using product key (or digital license) that came originally with second laptop or Windows activated itself again using license from first laptop?

Thanks!

Answer 1

In case you are connected to the internet for a while and it shows Windows is activated, then it is working fine.
Otherwise, you would received an activation error message.
However, we generally asked you to use Windows 10 installer media from:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
To perform clean install of the Windows.

Answer 2

Hello @Tomass Pētersons

In my experience it should be fine if they are Digitally licensed which are in built to Hardware.

If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer.

Answer 3

Digital licenses are associated with your hardware and linked to your Microsoft account... You're all set once your PC is connected to the internet and you log in to your Microsoft account.

Microsoft Ref:

Activate Windows