Moving Windows 7 onto a new machine - best way?

Hi,

I have a laptop with a retail version of Windows 7 Home Premium on.

The laptop hardware has been having problems recently and sounds very clunky so I have just ordered a new PC and am looking to use that instead. (Had someone to look at the laptop and he said it is knackered - it's 5 years old anyway so don't want to fix it)

The PC comes without an operating system so I want to install Windows 7 onto there using the same license as the laptop, then bin the laptop.

What is the best way to go about it so I don't get signalled for using an 'illegal copy'?

My thoughts were:

1. Install onto PC without using serial number

2. Transfer all files across from laptop

3. Turn Laptop off for good

4. Enter serial code into PC

Would this work or do I need to 'deactivate' the product key in W7 somehow before I can use it on a different machine.

Cheers

If you're talking about retail version then you'll need to contact Microsoft for sure. Phone Activation may work.

If your laptop's 7 is oem, then you can't use it on another machine.