Upgrading My Hard Drive to a larger SSD for Windows 11 Pro

Michael Glaesemann 20 Reputation points
2026-06-25T04:41:45.96+00:00

I purchased a used Dell Precision laptop that had Windows 10 Pro. I upgraded to Windows 11 Pro and now want to upgrade my HDD to a larger SSD. Will I be able to reactivate Windows without a new activation key? Wil it automatically reactivate?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade
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Answer accepted by question author

DaveM121 897.5K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-06-25T05:18:24.1433333+00:00

It depends on the type of Windows licence that is installed on that device, if that is an OEM licence installed by Dell, then yes, Windows will reactivate automatically, if it is a retail licence, then Windows may not reactivate successfully, if the Windows licence is owned by the previous owner and associated to their Microsoft account.

1

Click your Start Button, type cmd then right click Command Prompt and choose 'Run as Administrator'

Run or paste this command and hit Enter:

slmgr.vbs /dlv

Please post a screenshot of the resulting dialog

2

Download the free ShowKeyPlus app from the Microsoft Store.

Please provide a screenshot of that app window and please hide your product key in the screenshot.

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