Windows 11 System Backup Disk

Question

Windows 11 System Backup Disk

Stephen Gaze 0

I have just upgraded one of my Windows 10 desktop PCs because the hardware did not meet the rquirements for Windows 11. I replaced the motherboard, CPU and RAM to the same used on my Windows 11 PC.

I installed Windows 11 onto a 1TB NVMe SSD, followed by the other Windows programs that were on the original Windows 10 PC. When I was happy that everything was working I decided to create a backup of the System disk to a 500GB NVMe SSD, using Easus Disk Copy Pro, which took care of resizing the system partition. On completion of the copy I swapped the SSDs over to test that the copy was successful. The new PC booted up and appeared to be working as expected but I noticed that Windows was not activated, due to the change of hardware (SSD), and I did not appear to have the option to activate the OS using my new Windows 11 key.

I tried calling Microsoft Portugal to activate the OS. Unfortunately the response was (understandably) in Portuguese but so rapid I could not understand it as it's not my native language. I therefore raised a Service Request (7089545593) on 21 October but, 7 days later I still haven't had a call back.

Is there some way I can do a disk copy/image of the entire System disk (OS and other programs) so that, when I need to use it, the OS is still activated?

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Richard Trinidad 6,290 Independent Advisor

Hi Stephen, thanks for sharing the details. Since Windows activation is tied to hardware, swapping SSDs even with a cloned image can trigger deactivation.

To preserve activation, consider linking your Windows license to a Microsoft account via digital entitlement before cloning.

This allows reactivation after hardware changes. Also, using System Image Backup via Windows tools might help retain activation metadata better than third-party cloning.

Also, to isolate the issue, before cloning, had you linked your Windows 11 license to your Microsoft account under Settings > Activation > Add an account? This could determine if digital entitlement can help with reactivation.

I hope this helps you out, let me know how it goes.

Chard

Stephen Gaze 0 Reputation points

2025-10-28T19:40:53.26+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion Richard. I checked my Windows 11 Pro PC (MSI) and under System/Activation I see it is Active with a digital license linked to my account.

On my new Windows 11 Home PC (MSI-2) under System/Accounts I see my correct email account and profile photo.

Under Settings/Activation I see it is active but no indication of a digital license linked to my account. I clicked the link to "Linking Microsoft Account to digital account which took me to a Bing web page to "Add your MS account to your digital license" The link takes me back to the Activation page "to select Add an account - Enter your MS account and password then select Sign In". But there is no option to add an account and, since Settings/Accounts shows my correct email address and profile photo I can't the need to add another account.

Looks like I'm going round in circles here. Not the first time with Windows.
Stephen Gaze 0 Reputation points

2025-10-28T19:42:13.65+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion Richard. I checked my Windows 11 Pro PC (MSI) and under System/Activation I see it is Active with a digital license linked to my account.

On my new Windows 11 Home PC (MSI-2) under System/Accounts I see my correct email account and profile photo.

Under Settings/Activation I see it is active but no indication of a digital license linked to my account. I clicked the link to "Linking Microsoft Account to digital account which took me to a Bing web page to "Add your MS account to your digital license" The link takes me back to the Activation page "to select Add an account - Enter your MS account and password then select Sign In". But there is no option to add an account and, since Settings/Accounts shows my correct email address and profile photo I can't the need to add another account.

Looks like I'm going round in circles here. Not the first time with Windows.

Share via

Windows 11 System Backup Disk

1 answer

Your answer