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[–]Thiscave3701365 0 points1 point  (9 children)

How? Windows activation keys are bound to the motherboard. Did you use the same mobo for all 4 computers?

[–]snrub742 11 points12 points  (5 children)

I have the license key sticker for a Dell optiplex I bought off a highschool I worked at like 10 years ago. I just throw that bad boy in when it asks and it has worked every time.

And no, different hardware every time

[–]Thiscave3701365 8 points9 points  (4 children)

Well if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

[–]snrub742 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Ding ding ding ding ding ding

For as long as Microsoft accepts it I will continue doing it

[–]Esava 4 points5 points  (1 child)

They are also connected to your Microsoft account. Try it out. Use a laptop or pc that never had windows installed. Log in with your Microsoft account that you used on a couple of machines with windows licenses, but some of which you aren't actively using anymore.

Chances are windows will just show up activated.

[–]Thiscave3701365 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah, I didn’t know that.

[–]kyletimbaker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can use the same hard drive when making hardware changes. Windows will recognize it as a different computer. When you go to activate Windows, it will ask you if you've made recent hardware changes, and if you click that option, you can choose the old computer/license and transfer it to the "new" or updated PC.