Sir Les
OK..IF...I remove the HD drive with win 10...after a clone is done...then what happens?

Not clear what you are doing exactly can you give us a very basic summary? ie I am replacing a hard drive on the same PC?

So are you swapping out a hard drive with SSD or another hard drive on same PC then you must make sure you have had an activated Windows 10 OS at some stage on the before you did the clone on that very same PC. Also it must be at the same level (I.e. don't put Pro on it, when you registered home).

Cheers.

Ok...summery...I bought a system..MSI..sli Plus....I then tried to put thunderbolt on it...did not work...So, I bought another board Asus x99 deluxe...The OEM did not want to activate because I changed the motherboard...(with in the allowed time...I can consent to reset the win 8.1 Oem, with reason being the MB did not support my needs.
 
Done by remote, as activation is by internet mostly...Phone is robotic...and if it sees this is not a key of unused ranking it will deny the activation and hang up!...which is what happened to start off.
 
Chat..or phone...So Chat...Win 8.1 pro oem will not activate on new build board exchange...Solved...Installed again on HD drive of said Asus Board...Thunderbolt works...Yah!..Updated to 10...yep all working, and started to install stuff on it..to test it...
 
..New Drive aquired..ssd...adata sp600...250gb for Only Sonar...and plugins for that , that work well enough so far with 64 bit states.
 
Oh...only one drive with win 10 installed some of the bits...Clone it to ssd was quickly thought would do in a pinch and pipe dream........Nope!.
 
I spoke to a chat guy...and he said you cannot clone windows....
I explained, he cut the chat off.
I tried again...Same thing said, and cut off....I called...I explained what I was trying to do on the same system...not a different one.
He said no, you cannot clone the windows os anymore...and did not want to discuss it either...But I did explain I was Using Acronis...he said take it up with them.
 
So I bought 2016 Acronis update for my 2014 version....
 
I called again on the chat...as Now I have tried to install win 8.1 several times with default win 10 setup from that HD.
 
Now after trying to install same oem on ssd, to get the win 10 update free...As cloning did not work out...with Acronis 2014.
 
I thought the 8.1 pro reinstall would then allow me two installs on same machine...Nope Key in use on the other drive....So round and round....Chat no help...Tech on phone no help.
 
And then the loopy loop.....Windows 10 on HD will not boot...and ssd will not activate....oh...wonderful.
So I tried chat more so...to solve for...And they will say...what are you doing?...how did that happen?...so I explained it...
 
Cut off...
Tried again...oh a nice person!....He sat and listened and said...You cannot do that anymore...I posted his reply...and he listened well to what I wanted to do...clone the harddrive, boot record,  and all software installed onto...to another drive on same machine...same machine id...same os...same key codes...Nope you cannot...You have to log into your account and move the licence....But it is not in my account, I said...so where?....it could take some time he said for you new install to show up...Oh, well I do not have time to wait for MS to put my installs into a account it should have done weeks ago....Then you do it for me, I asked, because now I cannot boot into win 10, and win 8.1 throws up a activation window constantly to piss me off...and does not take the key..
 
Remote viewing...
Now...late last night, and all morning today...I have been locked out of my win 10 HD drive....Bios has a windows manager on boot drive ssd...So it loops to it...DVD will not work, it says error device malfunction...and goes to repair screen, where f8 and other  F keys do not function....and retry only makes the screen blink.
 
round and round...locked in to mayhem.....Wow,
 
So I bought win 10 pro retail....and made a iso on dvd...but the looping madness would not allow me to do anything with it....no matter my boot selection in bios, or my override pick....it just does not do anything right.
 
And it lies to me about my key being on another machine....F that.
 
So I wiped out the HD with win 10...as no other way is able to fix this....That should release my Key...as to roll back one must be inside the os on that drive, logged in, I can no longer boot to.
And the one I can boot to, will not accept the key used on the other drive.
 
 
Is that summing it up for Alex?
 
 
Now the Chat tech...remote viewed, although he did not want to...and he had issues ....with the key.
on win 8.1 Pro OEM and no Win 10 left to cause havock installed anymore, and should be a showing sign on their end of things as wiped out via formatting from ssd...Yet it (win 10) (or boot manager in bios) is still locked to that Key or install now wiped out....if Win is monitoring my doings...they can see it is so.
 
So...he put in some code...ID...and that had issues...he did it again...and it worked....activation happened on ssd drive....Wow,....Four Flipping days of crappy circular motion going no where fast with win 10's new ways...to take control...of any system..via.."Boot manager"
 
Now...Be mindful...this is test.
 
And out of the Behind, or out the mouth,...even the tech had issues with this build....But he said...how did you do it?....I screwed it up, by cloning the main boot drive, to ssd....and it never happened before with Acronis 2014 and win 8.1 or 7 or vista, or xp, or 98se, or 98...using other acronis versions before 2014....2015 I had issues with, so I returned it.....I hope 2016 is better?...yet in the state it was in....I had no time to make a bootable disk of acronis...as the drive was already screwed....so why clone a screwed up drive?...if one cannot boot to it...then you will not be able to clone and boot to that.
 
Money out the window...paying the cash cow ...that made the issue be a issue....so they could have a job solving it.....interesting....eh?
 
So ALex....are you up to remote viewing now...because it is now at square one....win 8.1 is now installed fresh.....again!
 
I told you...I do this often!
 
 

OK Les, if you got anyone to understand what you did I congratulate you. A new drive is not a new machine, but a new motherboard certainly is a new machine and would require another license. Uninstalling Win 10 from a machine on which it is activated would be expected to NOT free up the activation so that you can install it on a new machine if it was installed as a free upgrade in the first place. That upgrade is locked to the machine/motherboard it was installed on forever. If you uninstall it, you can only reinstall it on that same machine/motherboard. At any rate I am glad you are up and running. Just be sure your current running installation (is it Win 10 or Win 8 you lost me) is activated, or it will start to act up again.

I did ask when that was resolved..by telling him to check when I did the update to 10, and it was on the Asus board, after being given lincence to redo by the tech, as he checked all my statements... and what drive and machine it was on first,...He then called the store where I bought it, and they confirmed it was faulty and returned for Asus x99 deluxe...So, they check now...
And as it was in the time of return policy of the refund period......He allowed a reset of the OS oem...as it was active on the new Asus board by the other tech who granted me that...other wise I did offer to buy a new licence just to solve, and he said no it is ok....So any thing done should of been logged by that chat tech...And all should have been resolved with any licence issue, as he told me I would not have any issues with this any more....So that was said...and done by them...so it was said....was it done?...
 
And if it is installed and activated for the Asus board...if it was, that is why thy ask...How did you do this?....what did you do?...I told them the whole story...and again...resolving took too long.
 
If I had only this system up...and tried to clone as a backup...before clients entered....Four days looses the client...because they would go else where.
 
Not saying it is totally MS who screwed this...I am to also blame...But if I can do this so easily....What happens when Kids get to doing it...?
 
Could cause frantic hair loss , in undue stress....And that would be a shame....as children needs their hair...

I'll never buy oem licenses again. BTW I had no problem cloning a W10 drive but it was a sata drive and I used Acronis 2010.
 I've read where Acronis images from Sata to SSDs have problems and reset the need for activation.
 You also have to be careful from where you buy your licenses.  I bought 3 Windows anytime upgrades from a vendor and they turned out to be oem licenses. It was odd one machine where I replaced CPU, board and RAM activated online. The other two machines I will retire when a piece of the hardware goes bad. One of them is running Windows 10.  But the bad part of those oem licenses were from a vendor who is no longer around and sued by MS for most likely lifting key from oem machines.
 

kitekrazy1
 I've read where Acronis images from Sata to SSDs have problems and reset the need for activation.
 

I haven't had a problem so far with TrueImage 2015 (SATA to SSD). I've only cloned entire drives so far, not one partition at a time.

Here is another behind saying:
 
Brisbane K
Microsoft Answer Tech
    
              
            Hi, thanks for visiting Answer Desk! I'm Brisbane K.
9:10 am

        
                         Hi Brisbane
9:10 am

 
        
              
            Hello there.. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?
9:10 am

        
                         I hope I can take some of your time to ask stupid questions on setup of x99 system , with oem win 8.1 pro, and then how to setup drives with it installed, and then upgrade to win 10 more than one drive...
9:11 am

 
        
                         Leslie Pugh.
9:12 am

 
        
                         I am logged in right now on said system
9:12 am

 
        
                         I have had issues with this process , and have had chats and help remote viewing over the past five or so days...
9:13 am

 
        
              
            x99 system? Did I get that right Leslie?
9:13 am

        
                         Yes Asus X99 Deluxe U3.1
9:13 am

 
        
              
            Alright.. Thank you for that information.. So you want to install Windows 10 in another drive? so basically you want to have a dual boot?
9:15 am

        
                         hold on...I did that, and removed it...I had great troubles, because I (cloned the drive with that installed)...I imaged my win 10 drive to another drive with all my installs for one product I wanted to test on ssd...the original setup  was on HD drive...it cause a complete lock up of my system...and the win 8.1 key was locked out ...
9:17 am

 
        
                         So we got that sorted yesterday...and wiped out all, and reinstalled and reactivated the ssd drive with win 8.1....all is ok right now as that install.
9:17 am

 
        
                         Now, if I want to put win 8.1 on same machine , on multiple drives for testing software ....how would I do that, and then upgrade to 10 on all drives?
9:18 am

 
        
              
            Oh alright.. Hmm.. let me check.. You only have one product key for your Windows 8.1 ?
9:20 am

        
              
            Leslie as I have checked you cannot install Windows 8.1 on multiple drive...
9:21 am

        
                         yes for one system machine id...one system, only..but many drives is possible?
9:21 am

 
        
                         Sorry I forgot to enter that.....I see,..we used to or I used to do that with OS 7, and xp, and I could make imaged backups of said system boot drives...Now It seems I cannot do that any more...if imaging a drive is going to cause me problems...How can I back up a stable working installed and all ilok and key codes and such put into a working bootable backing? and or test bed...yet keep my main drive working ....as it does happen a crash, or a unstable environment occurs/virus or such happens.
9:24 am

 
        
              
            Are you just simply making an image  back up for Windows 8 or trying to install Widows 8 on multiple drivers for back up?
9:27 am

        
                         It is like securing a backup of bootable state with a drive...or as a test bed...as not all things are working yet on win 10...so, I cannot clone/image that...I tried and had a nightmare just recently with that and key code lock out...and my system was not bootable anymore to win 10, due to a boot manager...and trying to remove the cloned image, and or reinstalling win 8.1, which was used in the win 10 setup....So I was told I cannot do imaging anymore of OS 10....but win 8.1 on one machine ID, I have done this on other system audio work station retail version....This test x99 might take its place...But I need multiple boot drives to put my software into...as I have many setup configs, and some software and drivers conflict ...So I have to separate, to test stability.
9:31 am

 
        
                         Once stablility is gained...I image one drive for backup, remove it, and store it in house for emergency status...If I cannot boot...because of X....I can bring out the backup and continue working....(safe reliable, and at hand)....does this make sense?....and how now can I do this?
9:34 am

 
        
                         I bought win 10 retail yesterday or before that day....so I have the retail...does that help?
9:35 am

 
        
              
            Alright.. That seems to be quite a problem right there.. If you have a retail version of Windows this basically is only good for one computer.. but if you boot this to multiple driver it could cause problems with the activation.. But let me check on my resources here for more info about your problem.. Hold on
9:36 am

        
                         Thank you Brisbane...
9:36 am

 
        
                         I have bought licenced products to image drives....and updated them...it was all ligitamate before....and they still update the product for new os...(arconis true image)..I just bought that...because of this issue with the recent image failure....waste of money?
9:38 am

 
        
              
            As I have checked on my resources Leslie you can clone your harddrive but for Windows 10, its no longer an option as of yet..
9:38 am

        
                         I see, so if I install win 8.1 first on many drive on same machine using OEM...as still in legal agreements....I can then put win 10 on all?...once done in that format?
9:40 am

 
        
              
            As of the moment we do not have information as how the legal agreements is with cloning Windows 10.. might as well get in touch with our Professional Support Team..
9:43 am

        
              
            Pro Support 800-936-5800
9:43 am

        
                         Ok, I thought I was chatting on that line of tech support...sorry...
9:44 am

 
        
              
            Its okay : ) They only have phone support for our Pro Team...
9:45 am

        
                         Thanks Brisbane K...I will not tie you up any more...I just need understanding before I proceed.
9:45 am

 
        
                         I will copy this chat and use in forum on cake walk is that ok?
9:46 am

 
        
              
            You're welcome Leslie.. Sure.. No problem..
9:46 am

        
                         Thanks man...have a great day!
9:46 am
 
 
 
Not saying it is not possible ...I am having issues...and the horse is saying nah, nada, and no to 10....or it is not yet ...call this number....is the latest.
 

Ok word in from the Phone conversation with the MS Tech....Rodreges...?...Nice Person...But the Woman before that one Hung up the phone...when I gave her my Key code...and asked for her name.
 
He said OEM win is only for one drive, one machine....You cannot image it...and use two at a time.
 
Here is where my problem is.
 
I asked about win 10 retail, and yes it is able to be imaged....And so are all retail os versions.
Only OEM will not.
 
So OEM is ok for one drive one system....at a time only on that one build machine!
 
The root...the horse...and someone who will listen...That is How I root out ...and test.
 
 
Ok...Now comes the fun....whoop whoop.
 
And Alex...Thank you for asking the right questions, and sorting through my rants, to confine it all in my head, to ask them the right questions, to get it straight from the horse...and being here for me, and so many other people!
 
I know I am a pain...I know I am short on education....and wording things....But, I get it working eventually....my way!
 
Many thanks to all who chimed in....to put me on the path to Mayhem aversion!!!.
 
Sir Les says: Cheers!
 
 
 

This is there first time you have mentioned dual boot.
 
I have no problems with that at least on one drive. In order to have three copies of win10 I had three partition of windows 8.1, all of which got upgraded to 10. I could then wipe and reinstall win10 on those partitions. I do use a technique whereby I also install Linux on another partition and use grub as a bootloader as the windows bootloader is a pos. That way whatever windows I boot it's always going to be a C drive and windows get hidden from other copies of windows.
 
Yup I used OEM copies originally.

If you have a retail version of Windows this basically is only good for one computer.
 
So what is the point of buying a retail license unless they are saying you can't install on more than one machine?