Can I switch my Windows 10 hard drive to a new laptop?

QMy Windows 10 laptop recently went blank and it made me realise that all my backups would be useless with a broken screen. The display fixed itself but I worry how I would get over this problem. Would it be feasible to have the same model of laptop as a standby, and simply put the hard drive from the old laptop into the new one and boot up normally. Would this work? Paul Davies

AIt might work with the exact same laptop make and model, but there’s a major caveat. We assume your current Windows 10 laptop had the operating system preinstalled, so it’ll be covered by what’s known as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) licence. Microsoft’s licensing terms ( www. snipca.com/22652) are complex but the essence is that an OEM is tied to a specific ‘device’. If you put the old hard drive in an identical new machine, the licence would be invalid because while the components would be technically the same, the actual device would not. So, while Windows 10 might not actually detect the change, you wouldn’t have a valid licence. If Windows did detect the change, it’d demand reactivation — and Microsoft would probably decline that request.

If the display does eventually break, then connecting an external monitor would allow you to continue using the machine. But that doesn’t mean your backups would be useless. Even if your laptop broke, your backups would allow you to restore the data they contain to a new machine. You could keep a laptop on standby for that scenario, or just buy a replacement if or when the actual need arises.