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This is the answer here. If OP has any techy friends they should tell them. I have a dozen HDDs and SSDs and RAM of varying sizes lying around. Most of them even work.

I tend to canabalize parts as computers pass through my hands. I frequently upgrade family member’s laptops for them. They buy the parts and I provide the labor of cloning windows and putting in the parts. Often the brand new (but smaller) ram/ssd are unwanted.

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SidewaysSquid@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It’s the OS license that’s the main problem.

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- Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  There’s a non-zero chance the license is stored on the motherboard of the laptop (ie, embedded in BIOS).
  
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  - Nollij@sopuli.xyz ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    It’s nearly certain. OEM activation has been stored on the motherboard since XP. XP-7 required a matching OEM cert (easily found online), while 8+ have a unique license in the BIOS. For these, you just reinstall the OS, skip the key during setup, and let it connect afterwards for all of the updates and whatnot.
    
    Now, licenses to other apps, such as Word, are not so simple.
    
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- Skunk@tarte.nuage-libre.fr ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Powershell
  
  irm https://get.activated.win | iex
  
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- Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  That should be fine. I haven’t had to do it but everywhere I’ve seen says it’s tied to your hardware and it should be fine when you reinstall windows. Though with a dead laptop I’m not sure if you’re able to get a USB with the bootable media.
  
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- brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Windows should remember the BIOS and activate fine, I think.
  
  You can get the install medium on a USB stick from Microsoft for free.
  
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- Strider@thelemmy.club ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  There’s probably a sticker with the license code on the laptop somewhere.
  
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