7. What happens to my Windows 7 licence?
QI have built my own computer. If I understand the Windows 10 licence rules correctly, if or when my motherboard or SSD packs up, I will have to buy a fresh copy of the new operating system. If I have to do this and install my purchased copy of Windows 10, can I then install my old copy of Windows 7 on my XP laptop? Or is the Windows 7 product key transferred irrevocably to my free Windows 10 upgrade?
Graham Arnold
AWe could easily devote this whole feature to Microsoft’s complex licensing terms, so before we answer your question, here’s some background information on Windows licences.
For most home users the two relevant licence types are original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) and full-package product (FPP), also known as a retail purchase. OEM licences come with machines that have Windows preinstalled and are more restrictive than their FPP counterpart, but for your home-built PC you would have bought a retail version of Windows 7.
With Windows 8 Microsoft also introduced an ‘OEM System Builder’ licence with a ‘Personal Use Licence’ (PUL) element that means some Windows 8 home-builders will have only OEM licence rights, but this isn’t relevant to you.
You have upgraded a retail (FPP) edition of Windows 7 to Windows 10, so the rights of your purchase are subsumed in your new licence. Point 15 of the Windows 7 licence for non-enterprise editions (ie, Home, Home Premium and Pro) states: “After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from”. This means you can’t go back to Windows 7, but point 4b of your new Windows 10 licence allows you to “transfer the software to another device that belongs to you”.
That’s the long answer! In a nutshell: your Windows 7 licence is no more, as you now instead have a Windows 10 licence that’ll remain valid on any one device you own – including your current home-built PC if you change the motherboard or SSD or even your old XP laptop (if it’s up to running Windows 10). To read your specific Windows 10 licence, press Windows key+pause/break then click ‘Read the Microsoft Software License terms’ (see screenshot above).