If your drive fails you wouldn't be able to do a re-install of Windows on a replacement drive without the product key unless you bought a new license.
If you have a Windows 10 system, you don't need to worry about this. Windows 10 systems are "registered" with Microsoft, so when you install Windows 10, it contacts Microsoft and if your hardware is "known" by them, your system is activated automatically. From my experience, this happens both transparently and instantly.
However, if you're using Windows 7 (or Vista) on a machine where Windows came loaded from the factory, you'll need the Manufacturer's Certificate as well as the Product Key. (Without both, Windows WILL NOT ACTIVATE.)
The easy way to get these two critical pieces of information is to use the tiny utility, Activation Backup and Restore. The ReadMe.TXT file explains how to use it.
directedge.us
If your system did not come from the manufacturer with Windows installed, and you purchased a retail license, then your Product Key will be sufficient to activate your system after your re-install Windows.
Cheers, PW. |
