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  • Why not use a virtual machine?
    – Daniel B
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 20:14
  • I do use a virtual machine! However, VMs generally have indirect access to graphics cards, which is very relevant to the work I do. So, I like to have a standalone instance available, all the same.
    – Michael Macha
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 20:38
  • You can use Windows 10 indefinitely with minimal restrictions (essentially some minor annoyances regarding customization). There is no real need to activate it.
    – Anaksunaman
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 22:15
  • "Can I install Windows on a hard drive while it's in that machine, remove it, install the drive in this one, and then simply activate it on the final machine?" - It might but it likely won't. You will probably get drivers issues out of the box. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to install Windows.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jan 5, 2022 at 2:02
  • @Ramhound I used to install Windows 8, later W10, for a living, along with computer repair, in my last job. I could generally have it done in ten minutes. It's not so much the time, but the lead-in and lead-out, that bothers me--with Mint, you can go weeks without a restart. However, I'll need to shut down every multimedia, software, and web app I'm using, and remember, half an hour later, how to boot them all back. It's a real problem. So, I'm putting my old machine to use. We'll see if I have driver issues and how much of a problem they are to fix, though.
    – Michael Macha
    Commented Jan 5, 2022 at 2:31