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Win10 licence from PC to iMac Bootcamp and gaming

D

Dr. McKay

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
821
112
Belgium, Europe
I have a 27 inch iMac (2017 model) with a 3.4Ghz quad core i5, 32Gb of RAM, 512Gb SSD, Radeon Pro 570 4Gb. I would like to use Windows 10 with Parallels on it, but with a Bootcamp partition, for work purposes, but also to replace an older gaming PC.
As far as I know, Parallels can use a Bootcamp partition, no problem.

I just need a Windows 10 licence. I have an older gaming PC which I built myself in December 2014, which I initially bought a Windows 8.1 licence for and then later upgraded to Windows 10 for free. Unfortunately, that computer wouldn't boot up anymore this week for some reason. I tried cleaning out the dust and got it to work again but it died again after an hour or two. I could try and clean it some more but I think that there may be a problem with either the PSU or the motherboard. In any case, I'm not going to spend money for repairs.

I am wondering, however, if it would be possible to transfer that Windows licence to use in Bootcamp on my iMac. The GPU in my iMac is more or less equivalent to the one that was in my PC (NVidia GTX970) so I should be ok with games, even if I'd have to tweak some graphics settings.

I would install the Windows partition on my internal SSD (free up around 100Gb) but I would run the games (Steam, etc.) from a 2Tb external USB3 HDD (partitioned into 1Gb NTFS for Windows games and files, 1Tb HFS+ for my Mac backups).
On the Mac side, I am running Big Sur.

I don't think this setup would pose any problem, but can anyone tell me whether it would be possible to transfer that licence from my old PC ?

Thanks !
 
I’m pretty sure Windows licenses are connected to the hardware and not transferable. If I’m wrong someone please correct me on that one.

You can go to SCDKey and get a license cheap. They’re perfectly legal licenses just cheaper than buying from MS
 
6 years on one license and it’s time to pay the piper. Might want to buy in case you need to transfer again. I use to almost always buy OEM copies.

Windows 10 seems like they’ve fixed a lot of problems with recent two updates, so that works in your favor.
 
russell_314 said:
You can go to SCDKey and get a license cheap. They’re perfectly legal licenses just cheaper than buying from MS
Click to expand...

No offence, but there has to be a catch. Just googled it : 12 euro for a Windows 10 licence, when buying the same thing from Microsoft or a reputable dealer would set me back 145 euro...
And you say it's legal ?
 
Dr. McKay said:
I have a 27 inch iMac (2017 model) with a 3.4Ghz quad core i5, 32Gb of RAM, 512Gb SSD, Radeon Pro 570 4Gb. I would like to use Windows 10 with Parallels on it, but with a Bootcamp partition
Click to expand...

Are you saying that you want to be able to run Windows 10 with Parallels sometimes, but also be able to boot directly into Windows 10 at other times? If so, then I believe you will actually need TWO Windows 10 licenses. Microsoft considers virtual machines as separate computers, I ran into this issue a number of years ago with the same kind of setup using Parallels/Bootcamp/Windows XP.

However, the good news is that you can install and use Windows 10 without activating it at all. I did this recently with a new installation of Parallels. After a few days I ended up purcashing a license, but everything worked fine without it. Other people in this forum say they've run it for years this way. Evidently it will nag you from time to time, and you won't be able to do some personalization, but it works. So, if this is just for casual gaming use then maybe give it a try without activating?

You also stated that you needed Windows for work. IMO, you should purchase a legitimate license from Microsoft for that. I don't think you can transfer a license from another computer.
 
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If you still have a license for Windows 7 or Windows 8 you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
The offer "officially" ended in 2016 but it still worked as of last month.
www.zdnet.com

Can you still get a Windows 10 upgrade for free in 2025? Short answer: Maybe

Microsoft kept giving away free upgrades to Windows 10 on old hardware for more than eight years. The upgrades officially ended in 2023, but I've seen scattered reports that it still works for some people. But should you even bother?
www.zdnet.com www.zdnet.com
 
If the original Windows OS came with the pc then you can't transfer it afaik.
If you bought a seperate W10 licence then you can transfer it.
I've done it a couple of times both in Bootcamp and a VM, though they baulked a bit at the second one. I told them that it was actually the same computer (which it was) and I was re-installing in a VM. They ok'd that.
The same licence is still running now as a Bootcamp installation on my Catalina partition. It activated itself with no problem.
 
I bought the original Windows 8.1 licence myself, since I built the PC myself from scratch. Technically, I should have bought a retail licence, but I was a cheapskate and bought an OEM licence from the store where I bought all the PC parts.
I now know that only a retail licence can be transfered, not an OEM licence. So I'll have to buy a new licence.
Don't think I'll fork out twice, one for Bootcamp and one for Parallels. Think I might start off without Parallels, since I don't really need to be able to switch between Windows and Mac on the fly.
If rebooting every time proves to be too cumbersome, I'll just have to dig a bit deeper into my pocket and get Parallels as well (and maybe a second Win10 licence)...
 
Dr. McKay said:
No offence, but there has to be a catch. Just googled it : 12 euro for a Windows 10 licence, when buying the same thing from Microsoft or a reputable dealer would set me back 145 euro...
And you say it's legal ?
Click to expand...
If it makes you feel better pay the 145 euros. I’ve never had a problem with their license keys and there are many people on YouTube that checked to see if they were some type of enterprise keys not meant to be shared.
 
Dr. McKay said:
No offence, but there has to be a catch. Just googled it : 12 euro for a Windows 10 licence, when buying the same thing from Microsoft or a reputable dealer would set me back 145 euro...
And you say it's legal ?
Click to expand...

It is neither legal nor illegal to use those cheap keys, you just run the risk of the keys getting blacklisted. They're usually international keys intended for poorer countries that have been sold on the grey market. The grand majority of them are intended for sale in Eastern Europe.
 
Two windows licenses..There are ways to active in VM (ironically, it's allot easily to do in VM just due to emulated hardware thankfuly) but its either one activation or the other, not both.., If you can get VM to activate your bootcamp You bootcame windows install will be de-activated in such cases
 
Here's what I've been doing:

I buy a crappy old used/broken/barely-functional Windows 7, 8, or 10 PC that has a genuine Windows license sticker on it and then I use that sticker's key for the VM Fusion instance of Windows 10.

I don't use the crappy old PC, sometimes it's just a broken hulk anyway.
 
Last edited:
Dr. McKay said:
I bought the original Windows 8.1 licence myself, since I built the PC myself from scratch. Technically, I should have bought a retail licence, but I was a cheapskate and bought an OEM licence from the store where I bought all the PC parts.
I now know that only a retail licence can be transfered, not an OEM licence. So I'll have to buy a new licence.
Don't think I'll fork out twice, one for Bootcamp and one for Parallels. Think I might start off without Parallels, since I don't really need to be able to switch between Windows and Mac on the fly.
If rebooting every time proves to be too cumbersome, I'll just have to dig a bit deeper into my pocket and get Parallels as well (and maybe a second Win10 licence)...
Click to expand...

Just try the original License Key you already bought to see if it gives you a licensed Windows 10.
If not, then you can think about buying. Go straight to Microsoft website to buy.
You are an honorable man.
 
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