Deactivating applications prior to reinstalling Windows

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Does anyone know a way to discern which software titles require deactivation before I reinstall Windows so that I don’t run into brick walls and spend valuable time chasing down developers and publishers for unnecessary remote license releases?

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If you have paid software you need to look for the licenses you probably got via emails.

Belarc Advisor application will list
all software installed with license keys. You can save the report as html.

By “reinstall Windows” you mean ‘clean install’ wiping all software and data ? What is the reason for that ?
You can try first running Windows repair keeping your software and data.

In any case perform a full image copy to an external HDD before any other move.

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James Lawson

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I do have lists of my installed software (both through Belarc and Revo Uninstaller), and I have careful records of all my serial numbers and license keys.  Most of my software can be reinstalled quite simply, but some of it must be deactivated before wiping everything and doing a ‘clean install’ or I will need to contact the publisher, explain my mistake, and ask them to release my license remotely.  What I really need to do is to make a list of software that requires such deactivation.  I can attempt that manually, but I was hoping there was something that would export the list (as Belarc does for installed software), speeding up the process and circumventing the guesswork.

I am considering a ‘clean install’ because my system has been exhibiting some odd behaviours for a while that I cannot resolve.  I will try your suggested Windows Repair first in case that takes care of things more efficiently.

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Having your license serials and/or activation codes handy is always a good idea.

I’m not sure what impact just a clean OS install would have.

I used to run into issues with some software titles after a Windows 10 Feature Update. The update in some cases apparently created a new system ID (looked like a different PC), and some activations were tied to the old system ID. Usually a simple online re-activation fixed the app with my registered email and serial number.

On the other hand, a wholesale hardware swap to a new system board can cause everything tied to the PC hardware fingerprint to de-activate, including Windows. Ask me how I know? I did this last year and had to contact a few publishers to release the activations on the old hardware I no longer had access to.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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James Lawson

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Sorry to read that you had a new system board adventure – what a headache.

As I replied to Alex5723, I have the list of my license serials and/or activation codes.  I just need to determine which software titles require deactivation.  If there isn’t something that will export such a list, I’ll just have to go through things manually and hope I catch them all.  Then be sure to list them while things are still fresh in my mind.

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I went through all this recently when I migrated to a new desktop. I took an inventory of all the programs on my PC and narrowed the list down to just the paid ones. I emailed the support folks for each one to ask how to deactivate the license on one PC and reactivate it on another. Everyone I contacted responded and was very helpful. Of course, if you have a lot of paid programs, this process can be time consuming. But it saved me a lot of effort in the end.

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James Lawson

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