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My sons Ryzen 5 died (won't power at all) so I ordered him a bare bones model with Ryzen 7 (no ssd, no ram) with the thought I was just going to move the RAM and SSD over but after a bit of reading, Im not sure. Can anyone confirm that will work?

While the SSD and RAM should work fine with the new unit, you're going to need to install the system (Windows), which you can get here. While the system currently on the drive may end up running on the new one, it's usually best to go with a reinstall, as there could be some conflicts.

However, the problem you're likely to run into is Windows Activation, as the new unit won't come with a Windows license. Even if putting the drive in the new unit with the existing system installed on it would actually work, the Windows Activation servers will recognize that it's not the same system, and Windows will no longer be Activated.

IOW, you'll likely have to buy a new Windows 11 product key, unless you already have one that you can use. Or, perhaps you could private message the admin or contact barry, a tech for the company, at barry@minipcunion.com. I can't guarantee that they'll provide a product key, but it's worth a try.

I know the Ace Magic site shows that even the barebones unit comes with Windows 11 Pro 'installed', but I'm pretty sure that's just for the units that actually come with drives.

Thanks! I dont mind buying a product key I guess. I should have just bought the one with SSD and RAM as its essentially the same price but I wasn't paying attention and got the bare-bones. Thanks for your help!

If they are Mini PCs of the same model, the system can be used universally; if you encounter driver abnormalities, it is recommended to repair the driver or reinstall the system.

Hey Barry! Thanks for the reply. I just received the new pc and moved the SSD and RAM over. The pc powers on but won’t show anything on the screen. I tried to access the bios menu to see where it was booting from but the keyboard and mouse don’t seem to be recognized. I can hear the fan and the lights are on but can’t get any thing to appear on screen. I don’t mind paying to return this and reordering a non-bare bones model if that’s easier.

Nevermind, got it working somehow! I removed and put back the SSD and it booted right up! Not sure what happened but it’s working now. Thank you all!

JakAHearts wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 1:13 am Nevermind, got it working somehow! I removed and put back the SSD and it booted right up! Not sure what happened but it’s working now. Thank you all!

Great to hear!

Were you able to just move it to the new unit without having to reinstall the OS? Also, just out of curiosity, if you were, was Windows still Activated on the new unit after connecting to the net?

Yes, I simply moved the RAM and SSD over to the new unit. When I first turned it on, all the PC lights and keyboard lights came on but then the keyboard went non-responsive and I couldn't get anything to show on the monitor. I then removed the SSD, held the reset button, removed and reinstalled the RAM and tried again. This time, a small red LED on the SSD turned on and the keyboard was operable again. I went into the BIOS menu but everything looked normal in there so I just exited it without changing anything and windows loaded right up. Most things so far appear to work normally except signing into my Microsoft account, which my son needs to play Minecraft. I wonder if there is some security metric there so someone cant steal an SSD and then be signed into their account on a different PC...?

JakAHearts wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 2:19 pm I wonder if there is some security metric there so someone cant steal an SSD and then be signed into their account on a different PC...?

Knowing Microsoft, it wouldn't surprise me.

It might be a good idea to save any important files and then reinstall the system. This way, it would be like signing into the account from a new computer. With this said, if Windows did in fact stay Activated on the new unit, it's very possible that after the reinstall it won't be.

Come to think of it, if it's not Activated, I wonder if that could be causing the problem with signing into the Microsoft account as well, though your thought about having moved the SSD from one system to another may very well be the reason.

Beats me. My son said that this morning when he turned on the PC, everything was normal and I was already signed into the account. Everything appears to be working 100% normally now so... I think Im just going to leave it be. Thanks for the replies and help!