Posted August 19, 2018 Hi nerds 👋, I've got a new laptop so I'm thinking of formatting my current one and re-installing things from scratch and using it as a work one. Other than obviously backing up files, what steps should I take to ensure its as painfree as possible? It's been years since I did anything like this. I am going to create an installation USB but I have no idea what the licence key is as the laptop is several years old (and was windows 8). Having a look around this seems to be a way of finding it, but just thought I'd check.  Anything else I should be aware of? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 19, 2018 Might be worth mentioning, but Windows 10 has a "Start Fresh" feature, basically resets it back to default. https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10startfresh. You shouldn't need your original key for it, but just in case, I used a program to find mine after I switched the Motherboard (mine was an 8 > 10 upgrade during the free upgrade period), I can see if I still have it but I won't be able to check until later. I remember the key was listed as an Internet Explorer key for some reason. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 19, 2018 That's good to know, cheers @Ike! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 20, 2018 If you're reinstalling to the same machine you needn't worrying about running into licensing issues - your machine is registered with their servers so it will remain activated even if you wipe everything. Â Â Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
