How do I reinstall windows 7 on a volume-licensed machine?

Hey all,

I'm trying to reinstall windows on a desktop computer. I purchased it (used) from a company who was upgrading their desktops and didn't need the old ones. They did a fresh install of windows, and everything was clean (no bloatware or anything) when I received it.

I've since been infected with malware I can't get rid of, so I'm trying to reinstall windows. But the problem is that I don't have a windows activation code. I've tried using tools like magicjellybean to extract it from the registry, but these programs only return a key of BBBB-BBBB-BBBB-BBBB. Other forums suggest this is because windows was licensed with a volume key.

I've poked around online, but haven't found anything useful for my situation. Any suggestions on how to reinstall and activate windows 7 given my situation?

TIA!

I'd prefer not to have to pay for it. Is there no way to reset a properly-licensed machine without entering the activation code?

Edit: My real goal is to clean my machine--not necessarily reinstall windows. So in other words, is there any way of effectively resetting everything about the computer except the activation? unfortunately, my restore points don't work for some reason.

You would need to contact the licensing organization which owns those keys as they are legally not allowed to give them away but must keep track of them within their company or organization. If you are entitled to use one then they'd have to reapply it for you. If they clean reinstalled the PC for you and used one of their keys then you seem to be included. But you must ask and work with them. This is how VLK's work properly and is not debatable here. Trying to work around that for reinstall is technically piracy which we will not support at all, so don't ask.

Download, install, decline trial version and run full scans with free Malwarebytes, AdwCleaner, ESET online scanners. Then if it finds heavy infection (trojans or rootkits) post back their logs in our Security forum for specialized cleaning.

Check all browswers to disable any Add-Ons besides Flashplayer and a reader. If they won't go then reset the Browser deleting all personal settings.

More here on how to go over your install and optimize perfectly: Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Maybe this might help us/OP narrow down the licensing issue:

OP, what edition of Windows is installed on the machine? Is it Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, Home Premium, Ultimate, or Starter? You can find out by right clicking the computer icon and clicking properties.

AddRAM said:

Most likely Enterprise or Pro, I don`t think you can use a VLK on any other version.

I doubt if the OP will return.

Yeah doesn't seem like he's coming back. He said he 'thought' it was a VL copy or inferred it in the title but from his posts it doesn't sound like its 100%. Maybe he's overlooked and it might just be Home Premium or something, in which case the company IT dept was nice enough to install the license the computer came with and we could maybe help OP fish out the key with Magic Jelly Bean.

Hey all! Thanks for the replies. And sorry took so long to reply. I work in the wilderness for 8 days at a time...

Just to respond to a few posts below, I was using W7 professional. I tried magicjellybean, but the key it returned was BBBB-BBBB... etc. which is why I inferred the volume license based on earlier forum research.

After trying a lot of the malware cleaners (unsuccessfully) I couldn't find any free legal solutions, so I just installed the windows 10 preview which seems to have cleared things up.

I'm surprised that my computer was barely running and that none of the cleaners were able to detect any issues.