From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine, since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows 11. It also
has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and uninstalling the
ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating system and all programs
are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it boots
ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB SSD C: drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the programs
I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard drive I
am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to a new one and
go from there keeping the old drive intact should I want to go back to
using windows 10.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 04/07/2025 23:55, mick wrote:

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Not necessarily if the machine was already activated using Windows 10. Microsoft servers would know something about the machine so activation
will be silent and in the background as long as there is an internet connection.

Hope this helps.

Jai Hind.









--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 00:01:22 +0000, Operation Sindoor wrote:

On 04/07/2025 23:55, mick wrote:

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Not necessarily if the machine was already activated using Windows 10. Microsoft servers would know something about the machine so activation
will be silent and in the background as long as there is an internet connection.

Hope this helps.

Jai Hind.

Yes, it was automatically activated when I installed windows 10 over
windows 7.
Thank you Jai.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine, since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows 11. It also
has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and uninstalling the
ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it boots
ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB SSD C: drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the programs
I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard drive I
am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to a new one and
go from there keeping the old drive intact should I want to go back to
using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.


Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and** before removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip
product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation Troubleshooter(fyi...this
is only available for a signed on MSA) <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-after-a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>
- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section 'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB
MSR 16 MB
Windows (all available space not used by System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB
=> one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT
rem Ensure SSD is disk 0, change if necessary
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
rem Create & format 100 MB EFI System partition
create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16
rem Create OS partition using all available space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD
rem for WinRE partition of 2 GB
create partition primary
shrink minimum=2000
rem Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter
rem W. Windows Setup will change this drive letter to C
rem when installed. It is important now to not use a
rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter from
rem end of alphabet, W in this example
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows 11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the
rem end of the disk. Not defining the size, it will use
rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB that we shrunk OS
rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set exactly
rem as shown!
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart
rem
exit
--
...w¡ñ§±¤ñ
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 01:27:03 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine,
since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows 11.
It also has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and
uninstalling the ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating
system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it
boots ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB SSD
C:
drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the
programs I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard
drive I am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to a
new one and go from there keeping the old drive intact should I want to
go back to using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.

Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and** before removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation Troubleshooter(fyi...this
is only available for a signed on MSA) <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-after-

a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>

- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section 'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB MSR 16 MB Windows (all available space not used by
System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB => one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem Ensure SSD is disk 0, change if necessary select disk 0 clean convert gpt rem Create & format
100 MB EFI System partition create partition efi size=100 format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16 rem Create OS partition using all available space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE partition of 2 GB create partition primary shrink minimum=2000 rem
Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows Setup
will change this drive letter to C rem when installed. It is important
now to not use a rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter from rem
end of alphabet, W in this example format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows
11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the disk.
Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB
that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set exactly
rem as shown!
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart rem exit

Thank you for your reply Winston.

I am going to try the easy route first, fresh install.

The only hardware change will be a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to
replace the exact same 850 EVO 250GB drive I have now. I have a few of
these drives with different Linux distros on which I swap in and out over different pc's (I don't do dual booting, one drive one operating system at
a time). I have not got one to spare at the moment without wiping it
clean so I am waiting until Monday for the new one to arrive.

According to Rufus it has created a customised windows installation ready
to start installing on the new hard drive.
1.Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0
2.Remove the requirement for an online Microsoft account
3.Create a local account with the username mick
4.Set regional options to the same values as this user's
5.Disable data collection (Skip privacy question)
6.Disable Bitlocker automatic device encryption

Your detailed explanation about formatting and partitioning the new drive seems a bit over the top to me. Surely, stick the new drive in, boot from
the usb drive and let the windows install do its thing. That is all I have done previously. If windows 11 nags for a product key or activation then
I will try the alternative of cloning the existing drive to the new one
and upgrade to windows 11 by that route, then see what happens.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 05/07/2025 13:43, mick wrote:

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 01:27:03 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine,
since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows 11.
It also has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and
uninstalling the ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating
system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it
boots ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB SSD
C:
drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the
programs I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard
drive I am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to a
new one and go from there keeping the old drive intact should I want to
go back to using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.


Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and** before
removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip
product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be
activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation Troubleshooter(fyi...this
is only available for a signed on MSA)
<https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-after-

a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>

- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section
'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB MSR 16 MB Windows (all available space not used by
System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB => one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem Ensure SSD is disk 0,
change if necessary select disk 0 clean convert gpt rem Create & format
100 MB EFI System partition create partition efi size=100 format quick
fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16 rem Create OS partition using all available
space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE
partition of 2 GB create partition primary shrink minimum=2000 rem
Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows Setup
will change this drive letter to C rem when installed. It is important
now to not use a rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter from rem
end of alphabet, W in this example format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows
11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the disk.
Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB
that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set exactly
rem as shown!
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart rem exit

Thank you for your reply Winston.

I am going to try the easy route first, fresh install.

The only hardware change will be a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to
replace the exact same 850 EVO 250GB drive I have now. I have a few of
these drives with different Linux distros on which I swap in and out over different pc's (I don't do dual booting, one drive one operating system at
a time). I have not got one to spare at the moment without wiping it
clean so I am waiting until Monday for the new one to arrive.

According to Rufus it has created a customised windows installation ready
to start installing on the new hard drive.
1.Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0
2.Remove the requirement for an online Microsoft account
3.Create a local account with the username mick
4.Set regional options to the same values as this user's
5.Disable data collection (Skip privacy question)
6.Disable Bitlocker automatic device encryption

Your detailed explanation about formatting and partitioning the new drive seems a bit over the top to me. Surely, stick the new drive in, boot from the usb drive and let the windows install do its thing. That is all I have done previously. If windows 11 nags for a product key or activation then
I will try the alternative of cloning the existing drive to the new one
and upgrade to windows 11 by that route, then see what happens.

I would follow the "easy" route you suggested but first check whether
you have a product key. To do that open an Admin command prompt and run
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

However, I noticed that with Rufus you said
2.Remove the requirement for an online Microsoft account
Microsoft is more likely to give a trouble-free upgrade from 10 to 11 if
you routinely log in with your online account.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

MikeS wrote:

I would follow the "easy" route you suggested but first check whether
you have a product key. To do that open an Admin command prompt and run
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Remember wmic.exe is deprecated and depending on the age of the
installation may not be installed; in which case you can add it from
optional features or run

powershell "(Get-WmiObject SoftwarelicensingService).OA3xOriginalProductKey"

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 15:16:34 +0100, MikeS wrote:

On 05/07/2025 13:43, mick wrote:

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 01:27:03 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine,
since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows
11. It also has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and
uninstalling the ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating
system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it
boots ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB
SSD C:
drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the
programs I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard
drive I am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to
a new one and go from there keeping the old drive intact should I
want to go back to using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.


Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in
place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and**
before removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is
configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip
product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be
activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation
Troubleshooter(fyi...this is only available for a signed on MSA)
<https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-

after-

a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>

- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section
'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB MSR 16 MB Windows (all available space not used by
System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB => one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a
script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem Ensure SSD is disk
0,
change if necessary select disk 0 clean convert gpt rem Create &
format 100 MB EFI System partition create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16 rem Create OS partition using all
available space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE
partition of 2 GB create partition primary shrink minimum=2000 rem
Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows
Setup will change this drive letter to C rem when installed. It is
important now to not use a rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter
from rem end of alphabet, W in this example format quick fs=ntfs
label="Windows 11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the
disk.
Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB
that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set
exactly rem as shown!
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart rem exit

Thank you for your reply Winston.

I am going to try the easy route first, fresh install.

The only hardware change will be a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to
replace the exact same 850 EVO 250GB drive I have now. I have a few of
these drives with different Linux distros on which I swap in and out
over different pc's (I don't do dual booting, one drive one operating
system at a time). I have not got one to spare at the moment without
wiping it clean so I am waiting until Monday for the new one to arrive.

According to Rufus it has created a customised windows installation
ready to start installing on the new hard drive.
1.Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 2.Remove the
requirement for an online Microsoft account 3.Create a local account
with the username mick 4.Set regional options to the same values as
this user's 5.Disable data collection (Skip privacy question)
6.Disable Bitlocker automatic device encryption

Your detailed explanation about formatting and partitioning the new
drive seems a bit over the top to me. Surely, stick the new drive in,
boot from the usb drive and let the windows install do its thing. That
is all I have done previously. If windows 11 nags for a product key or
activation then I will try the alternative of cloning the existing
drive to the new one and upgrade to windows 11 by that route, then see
what happens.

I would follow the "easy" route you suggested but first check whether
you have a product key. To do that open an Admin command prompt and run
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Thank you, something I had not thought of.
I have now done that Mike and have got the original key.

However, I noticed that with Rufus you said 2.Remove the requirement for
an online Microsoft account Microsoft is more likely to give a
trouble-free upgrade from 10 to 11 if you routinely log in with your
online account.

I have never had a Microsoft account and I really don't see the need now.
I don't use anything in windows other than altering settings and
occasionally notepad. Everything else is turned OFF, uninstalled or
hidden. Can't even get my head around that awful File Explorer, I have
been Directory Opus user since the Amiga days in early 1990.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

mick wrote:

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 01:27:03 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine,
since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows 11.
It also has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and
uninstalling the ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating
system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it
boots ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB SSD
C:
drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the
programs I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard
drive I am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to a
new one and go from there keeping the old drive intact should I want to
go back to using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.


Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and** before
removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip
product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be
activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation Troubleshooter(fyi...this
is only available for a signed on MSA)
<https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-after-

a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>

- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section
'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB MSR 16 MB Windows (all available space not used by
System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB => one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem Ensure SSD is disk 0,
change if necessary select disk 0 clean convert gpt rem Create & format
100 MB EFI System partition create partition efi size=100 format quick
fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16 rem Create OS partition using all available
space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE
partition of 2 GB create partition primary shrink minimum=2000 rem
Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows Setup
will change this drive letter to C rem when installed. It is important
now to not use a rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter from rem
end of alphabet, W in this example format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows
11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the disk.
Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB
that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set exactly
rem as shown!
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart rem exit

Thank you for your reply Winston.

I am going to try the easy route first, fresh install.

The only hardware change will be a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to
replace the exact same 850 EVO 250GB drive I have now. I have a few of
these drives with different Linux distros on which I swap in and out over different pc's (I don't do dual booting, one drive one operating system at
a time). I have not got one to spare at the moment without wiping it
clean so I am waiting until Monday for the new one to arrive.

According to Rufus it has created a customised windows installation ready
to start installing on the new hard drive.
1.Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0
2.Remove the requirement for an online Microsoft account
3.Create a local account with the username mick
4.Set regional options to the same values as this user's
5.Disable data collection (Skip privacy question)
6.Disable Bitlocker automatic device encryption

Your detailed explanation about formatting and partitioning the new drive seems a bit over the top to me. Surely, stick the new drive in, boot from the usb drive and let the windows install do its thing. That is all I have done previously. If windows 11 nags for a product key or activation then
I will try the alternative of cloning the existing drive to the new one
and upgrade to windows 11 by that route, then see what happens.

I covered the product key need because on some OEM devices, clean
installing Windows 11 when not previously upgraded from Win10(to Win11)
will need a product key to activate.
The diskpart script line item was included primarily to size the WinRE(Recovery partition) to avoid future SafeOS and WinRE updates(now inlcuded in Windows Update cumulative updates) from later shrinking C
and expanding WinRE(a 2GB WinRE partition will prevent that shrinkage
for the entire remaining lifecycle of Win11).
Even when using Rufus to clean install(the WinRE partition must be
located adjacent and to the right of the Windows partition).

Good luck...
--
...w¡ñ§±¤ñ
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 11:53:26 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 01:27:03 -0400, ...winston wrote:

mick wrote:

I have a desktop which when new was originally a windows 7 machine,
since upgraded to windows 10 that is now non compliant for windows
11. It also has a lot of programs that really need refreshing, and
uninstalling the ones no longer needed. Only the Windows operating
system and all programs are on a 250GB SSD

I have already made a win11 usb stick with Rufus and tested that it
boots ok, which it does.

Before I upgrade to windows 11 I thought I would swap out the 250GB
SSD C:
drive for a new one and do a fresh install of windows 11 and the
programs I actually need.

By doing that will windows 11 keep nagging me for a product key?

Or do I have to first upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 on the hard
drive I am already using? If so, I will clone the existing drive to
a new one and go from there keeping the old drive intact should I
want to go back to using windows 10.

If you clean install Win11 on a new SSD
- Product key may be needed to activate after a hardware change.


Your approach should be:
Upgrade to Win11 first to ensure the digital license for 11 is in
place.
=> Ensure you use a MSFT account(MSA) logon on the device to ensure
the 11 digital license is tied to the MSA and the device **and**
before removing/replacing old hardware.
=> Then replace the old SSD with the new, ensure UEFI is
configured
to boot the new SSD(Windows boot manager), clean install[1] Win11(skip
product key entry if prompted), logon with the same MSA. The Win11
device digital license will remain intact, though if shown to not be
activitated, the run the Windows 11 Activation
Troubleshooter(fyi...this is only available for a signed on MSA)
<https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reactivating-windows-

after-

a-hardware-change-2c0e962a-f04c-145b-6ead-fb3fc72b6665>

- scroll down the above article(2/3 way down) and read the section
'Reactivate Windows 11 after a hardware change'
- follow the steps in the article(all 4 steps)

[1] During clean install, it might be worth it setup the SSD
partitioning size properly in advance of the clean install.
System 100 MB MSR 16 MB Windows (all available space not used by
System, MSR, WinRE)
WinRE - 2 GB => one can do this in diskpart(manual steps or a
script)

Diskpart file example(the commands can be entered manually instead of
using a file as the script).

rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem Ensure SSD is disk
0,
change if necessary select disk 0 clean convert gpt rem Create &
format 100 MB EFI System partition create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted)
create partition msr size=16 rem Create OS partition using all
available space,
rem shrink it with 2000 MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE
partition of 2 GB create partition primary shrink minimum=2000 rem
Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows
Setup will change this drive letter to C rem when installed. It is
important now to not use a rem reserved letter, therefore use a letter
from rem end of alphabet, W in this example format quick fs=ntfs
label="Windows 11"
assign letter="W"
rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the
disk.
Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, i.e. 2 GB
that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set
exactly rem as shown!
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Exit Diskpart rem exit

Thank you for your reply Winston.

I am going to try the easy route first, fresh install.

The only hardware change will be a new Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to
replace the exact same 850 EVO 250GB drive I have now. I have a few of
these drives with different Linux distros on which I swap in and out
over different pc's (I don't do dual booting, one drive one operating
system at a time). I have not got one to spare at the moment without
wiping it clean so I am waiting until Monday for the new one to arrive.

According to Rufus it has created a customised windows installation
ready to start installing on the new hard drive.
1.Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 2.Remove the
requirement for an online Microsoft account 3.Create a local account
with the username mick 4.Set regional options to the same values as
this user's 5.Disable data collection (Skip privacy question)
6.Disable Bitlocker automatic device encryption

Your detailed explanation about formatting and partitioning the new
drive seems a bit over the top to me. Surely, stick the new drive in,
boot from the usb drive and let the windows install do its thing. That
is all I have done previously. If windows 11 nags for a product key or
activation then I will try the alternative of cloning the existing
drive to the new one and upgrade to windows 11 by that route, then see
what happens.

I covered the product key need because on some OEM devices, clean
installing Windows 11 when not previously upgraded from Win10(to Win11)
will need a product key to activate.
The diskpart script line item was included primarily to size the WinRE(Recovery partition) to avoid future SafeOS and WinRE updates(now inlcuded in Windows Update cumulative updates) from later shrinking C
and expanding WinRE(a 2GB WinRE partition will prevent that shrinkage
for the entire remaining lifecycle of Win11).
Even when using Rufus to clean install(the WinRE partition must be
located adjacent and to the right of the Windows partition).

Good luck...

All noted and taken onboard, thank you for the input Winston, much appreciated.
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