Windows 7: a way to change oem key to retail? or make factory oem key work

Rebnoob · 15 Feb 2011

ok let me start at the beginning..

I bought a gateway pc about 6 months ago and I am having major issues with it, I have had a few people I game with have alook and they seem to think its a hardware issue. I have reinstalled windows from the recovery partition once with no change. The machine is taking 20 minutes to post, any ways, I have decided to replace the mobo with a better board form a local electronics store. Will I be able to reuse the windows 7 key that came with this machine?
I am not opposed to buying another copy but, That will stop me from upgrading a different system to win 7 32. I know that replacing my mobo will void any joke of a warranty i have left but to be honest I have shipped this pc to gateway 2 times at 70$ a pop with no help.well they did offer to sell me a replacement for 1100$

So tdlr is, If i replace mobo is factory build pc. do i need to spend another 100 bucks for a os...

I will have to buy the install disk anyways but the "new key" would sure be nice on my old laptop that's running vista now

in before dl a copy, I would like to stay legit

Maguscreed · 15 Feb 2011

If you are experiencing blue screens, we are actually quite good at diagnosing them here. Nothing against your gaming friends but making the suggestion that hardware and software replacements are required just from basic online discussion, is not really addressing the base issue.

If you have had blue screens have a look at the following link.
http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tructions.html

If not, no you should not require another key for a motherboard replacement unless you are using a old ide hdd that requires windows drivers to function. You may be forced to reactivate over the phone with your OEM key after making the upgrade but the key should function as long as it's in use on only one computer.

Bill2 · 15 Feb 2011

1) Legally speaking, the OEM license is tied to the original mobo. For MS, the mobo IS the machine- so new mobo, new license required.

2) Now, if the old mobo is junked, there are 2 possibilities- one, it is replaced with a new Windows 7 compatible gateway mobo. In that case, your activation will remain intact if the hard drive is not wiped and the same hard drive is plugged to the new mobo.

The other possibility is that you get a non-gateway mobo. In that case, activation will be lost when you plug in your current hard drive. But you can try activate online with the COA sticker key, failing which you can call MS and explain that your mobo died etc. and they'll activate for you.

If none of this works, you'll need to buy a new license.

Rebnoob · 15 Feb 2011

no blue screens, The pc is just taking literally 20 minutes to post, I have tried differant memory, I have ran hdd test, I even did memtest overnight. One the computer is up it was running pretty good. I could run 7-9 instances or the game "eve online" at once with no issues, Every since I did a reinstall i can only run 2 clients. The third makes system bog down and go into slide show mode. After the reinstall windows does post a little sooner, but still like 10 minutes. Hell my old amd 2.1 ghz. does much better. Man i wish I had a good Factory copy of windows disk before I go any further.The nearest store is fry's at 85 miles. So if I were to buy windows 7 and use the oem key I think I could reinstall on my gateway with oem key and upgrade my old amd with the new key.

Rebnoob · 15 Feb 2011

Gateway Official Site: Shop - Desktops - FX6831 03 Product Details

is the system i bought in july of last year

Maguscreed · 15 Feb 2011

Have you looked into a bios update for the motherboard?
Normally don't suggest bios updates unless there is a noticeable issue.
I would say this is a noticeable issue, and you're considering replacement anyway.

Rebnoob · 15 Feb 2011

yes i reflashed the bois from gateways site. Sorry I should have put that in the OP

I am gonna drive down to frys in a bit I guess. I live
in Trinity Tx so the only place to even buy AA battery's is Radio Shack : )
Frys is ~1.5hrs off

gregrocker · 15 Feb 2011

Have you tried all of the troubleshooting steps for Windows 7? Computer lags every couple seconds

Then run a boot trace to determine what is hanging or slowing the boot: Trace Windows 7 boot/shutdown/hibernate/standby/resume issues - MSFN

Rebnoob · 15 Feb 2011

1 other retarded question

, Will a windows 7 upgrade disk work for a install? I can get that at walmart.

Maguscreed · 15 Feb 2011

Upgrade will work as long as you have a previous windows version.
It doesn't have to be installed, you just need the disc on hand.

Windows 7: a way to change oem key to retail? or make factory oem key work

a way to change oem key to retail? or make factory oem key work problems?