Workarounds for Windows 11 on Incompatible Hardware

[Sky-Knight]

I don't think it is so long as you use the product key of the new machine, which Windows should automatically do but if not, you can always change it. Use a tool like RW Everything to check the key embedded in the motherboard's firmware and check it against the key used on the upgraded Windows 10 install. It's very possible that the machine will be activated "by a Windows key tied to your Microsoft Account," in which case you need to change it to the key embedded in the motherboard. Or do what you said and use the existing product key during the upgrade, but it might not let you. I don't trust changing the key in the Settings app because it's given me false information many times over the years. Use the slmgr command under CMD to change the key and verify it's changed.

OEM legally only allows installation via the download on Microsoft's website. Image based deployment is not authorized. But again, this technically has no legal teeth, during an audit the only thing the lawyers care about is if the machine has a license, they don't even care which license is active on the machine itself, they only care that there's a line on an invoice that says you have one, and that license edition matches the one installed. (Pro, Enterprise, etc)

But you're right, the "best" way forward is to pull the code from the BIOS and change the key when you're done. You can state that is part of your process, and it shows diligence which is also a huge point in your favor when you get audited. The auditors will take that information, and know checking deeper here is a waste of time.

In any event there is no such thing as an audit vs a private user. Audits only happen for businesses, and even then I've never seen one land on a place that has less than 50 seats.

 

[HCHTech]

The auditors will take that information, and know checking deeper here is a waste of time.

I had an audit on a 40-something employee client back before M365 (over 50 seats if you count server licenses). They were still buying perpetual office licenses, and I took pains to explain the nonsense of not being able to keep track of which license code was assigned to which machine from within the Microsoft account, so we had to keep our own spreadsheet. I naively thought I might finally find out how you were supposed to do that task, but there was no mention of that at all in the passing result.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@HCHTech Correct, because all they care about at that level if machine count and license count, the latter gets proven, and the numbers are good... that's it, you're done.