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Hi Ed, I have changed 3 HDDs for SSD in the last 3 years. Each time I have used AOMEI Partition Assistant (It is available from Microsoft Store) to move Windows etc from HDD to SSD. There are plenty of helpful video online if you need help using it.
Added a new SSD drive and want to put windows 10 Pro on it for a fresh start
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Ed Berlad
125
Reputation points
I'm currently running Win 10 Pro on a desktop and put in a SSD drive and wanted to install Win 10 pro on it. I don't have a disk and if I check my product key comes up different. It says product Id. instead
Windows for home | Windows 10 | Install and upgrade
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Answer accepted by question author
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Carl-L 10,295 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator2026-02-19T13:12:14.5266667+00:00 Hello Ed Berlad,
Thanks for letting me know.
If the license is digitally linked with your Microsoft account, it's normal that it doesn't have any product key linked to it. When you reinstall Windows, the system will detect the license when you log in with your account. However, you might want to check with your son to make sure if the license was upgraded from Win 7/8. Also, you should check the edition to make sure that this is an end user edition since your son bought it in college.
If you need any assistance in reinstalling Windows, please let me know.
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-02-20T15:02:08.0366667+00:00 Yes thank you. We had a couple of things pop up so I haven't tried it yet, but will let you know.
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-02-22T21:15:53.8+00:00 Hi Carl, well no luck I have tried 3 times now. Each time formatting everything and going through the process. I end up with an error code of 0x8007025D each time. Any ideas what to try next? Thanks again for your time.
Ed
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-02-27T14:16:41.1666667+00:00 Good morning Carl, sorry I ordered a new SSD drive and I'm waiting for it. But I do have a question from what I was trying earlier. When I formatted the thumb drive I did it in FAT32 and noticed the one SSD drive NTFS. Was wondering if that could be an issue? Secondly was the USB port I was trying. Could this be an issue? When I got the error message 0x8007025D I figured it was some kind of corrupted file. But have trying it three times wasn't sure what was going on. Thanks again
Ed
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Carl-L 10,295 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-03-03T12:53:53.9+00:00 Hello Ed Berlad,
Thanks for letting me know.
This could be relevant depends on how you install Windows. If you boot directly from it, the FAT32 usually won't have enough space for the installation. Can you please try to switch the USB type and try again?
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-03-03T14:24:49.72+00:00 Hi Carl,
So I should format it using NTFS? I thought I tried that but will try again. My neqw SSD is coming Wed. Thanks again I'll keep you in the loop
Ed
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-03-04T15:57:03.1933333+00:00 Drive is coming today just playing the waiting game. So I will format the drive for NTFS and download the Win 10 pro Installation tool and give it a try. I have copied all the documents and photos over the the smaller SSD and was wondering when I go to install Windows on the new drive should I first disconnect the old drive where Windows is now? I will of course go into the bios and set the correct order. Thanks!
Ed
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Carl-L 10,295 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-03-05T13:14:47.5533333+00:00 Hello Ed Berlad,
Usually, you don't have to. However, it's recommended to disconnect or disable it just in case so the installer doesn't install it into the wrong location and prevent any user error.
Please let me know the results.
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-03-06T14:28:59.83+00:00 Good morning Carl,
I'm going to give it a try shortly and will let you know how I made out! Thanks for all the support
Ed
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-03-07T15:09:21.5266667+00:00 Good morning Carl,
Well the whole problem was the thumb drive! I went and got a new one formatted NTFS and it worked great. I just didn't understand why it didn't work because I was copying files and using it for storage with no problems. So everything went smooth until some of the updates. It aloud me get extended updates, so about halfway though one update got stuck. On line I found a thread it was a registry problem and gave the solution to correct it. Which worked great! So now it's just installing all the programs we like to use. For the key as soon as I logged in, it took care of everything. Thanks for your help and support with everything!
Sincerely,
Ed
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Answer accepted by question author
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Carl-L 10,295 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-02-18T10:11:13.96+00:00 Hello Ed Berlad,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.
As I understand, you want to reinstall Windows 10 and wonder if your license of Windows 10 will be recognized, am I correct?
That will depend on your type of license, may I know where you got the license from and if this license if a free upgrade from Win 7/8 license?
I'm waiting for your reply.
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-02-18T14:01:24.5733333+00:00 Yes you are correct. Same same CPU just want to install a SSD with a fresh copy of Windows 10 Pro. I not really sure what the original license was my son was in college and he purchased it there. So I was wondering will I have a problem with the key since it's on the same CPU. I read in my activation setting that I have an activated digital license linked to my Microsoft account. So I thought I would be okay but wasn't sure what would happen when installing the new reinstall.
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Q&A Assist2026-02-16T15:48:16.32+00:00 AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn moreTo install Windows 10 Pro on your new SSD, you can follow these steps:
- Create Installation Media: Since you don't have a disk, you can create a bootable USB drive using the Microsoft Software Download site. You will need a USB drive with at least 8 GB of space.
- Go to the Microsoft Software Download site and download the Media Creation Tool.
- Follow the prompts to create installation media for Windows 10.
- Install Windows 10 Pro: Once you have the installation media ready, insert the USB drive into your desktop and restart the computer. You may need to change the boot order in your BIOS/UEFI settings to boot from the USB drive.
- Product Key: If you are prompted for a product key during installation and the key you have is different from what you see in the system, ensure that you are using the correct product key associated with your Windows 10 Pro license. If your previous installation was activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, you can sign in with that account after installation, and Windows should reactivate automatically without needing to enter the key manually.
- Check Product Key: If you need to find your original product key, you can retrieve it from your current installation using a command in an elevated Command Prompt or by using third-party key finder utilities.
By following these steps, you should be able to successfully install Windows 10 Pro on your new SSD.
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Ed Berlad 125 Reputation points
2026-02-16T16:36:35.0866667+00:00 Will it recognize the product code from the old hard drive? Because the product ID. doesn't look like a normal key! It has been running on this desk top for years. So what do I do when I get to the key question? How do I answer? Will it still install or will it mess up the whole process?
Sign in to comment - Create Installation Media: Since you don't have a disk, you can create a bootable USB drive using the Microsoft Software Download site. You will need a USB drive with at least 8 GB of space.