Windows 7: Windows 7 reinstall

hi
i want to reinstal windows 7
can i reuse the product code that my pc is activated with
its a fabric pc from acer ?

Yes, use the key on the sticker.

Hello Snowcore, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Since it's a OEM (store bought) computer, you will only be able to use the OEM product key number on the sticker to activate Windows 7 on the exact same computer that it was originally activated on. You will not be able to use it on another computer.

Product Key Number for Windows 7 - Find and See

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Sorry to butt-in here, but I'm not clear on this yet and maybe my ? will help the OP. I have an Acer netbook with W7HPx64, and an "Windows(r) 7 Home Prem OA Acer Group" sticker with Product Key. Do you guys know: might I rebuild this computer using my "OEM System Builder Pack" Win Home Prem 7 64-bit DVD that I bought for another PC I have?

This Acer comes with no DVD(s) itself, only some Recovery Disc images which presumably re-create the original factory configuration, bloatware and all. I'm wondering, if I have to, or want to, reinstall Windows 7 from scratch, if the OEM disc I have can be used to do a cleaner install, using Acer's Product Key of course.

Hi Max -- If you were not rebuilding, the answer would be a YES. Rebuilding puts a different slant on things. When a motherboard is changed, it makes it a different computer. You could try installing and see if it will activate using the Acer Key, if not then you could give Microsoft a call and tell them what happened and see if they will activate.

Acer Empowering Technology > Acer eRecovery Management.
Acer Support - Answers, E-Mail, Chat - How can I restore my computer with the backup discs I created?
Manual how to use Acer eRecovery Management here:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/note...%20English.pdf

Have you tried pressing <Alt+F10> at boot up, to goto the Acer eRecovery Management.
Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for How to use Acer eRecovery
You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

Thanks, I get it. No I'm just talking about using the Acer key with the original Acer hardware, but an OEM installation disc (the likes of which Acer did not provide).

This is fascinating theog, thanks so much. I did NOT know this!!! Tried the Alt-F10 thing, and what happens is the netbook boots to WinPE (I believe) on another partition, and permits reinstallation to factory default from this hidden partition(s, there are two, I suppose one is to boot, and maybe the other has the recovery data).

So you're right, if all Snowcore wants to do is to reinstall, it should be easy.

Interestingly, because my Netbook has no CD/DVD drive, there is no option to recover from CD/DVD disks (which I have made by some convoluted means). Not sure how you'd use this Alt-F10 to recover from hard media even if you did have the discs (there's no Disk Recovery option shown with this pc!).

If you have made the Acer Recovery DVD, you can use method two in Brink tutorial to make USB Pen Drive Recovery disk.
USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

Well.....not quite. If the recovery set is a single disk and one has a large enough flash drive, it should be OK. The problem arises when the recovery set is spanned across multiple disks. In my experience the recovery wizard looks to the optical disk (i think) for the second disk onwards. In other words its a recovery wizard built for machines with optical drives and installed on a netbook without an optical drive. I've seen this on HP, maybe Acer has something more intelligent.

At least on some new HP's, the recovery manager has an option to create a recovery USB but it asks for a flash drive >16 gigs! which may not be a worthwhile investment.

And maxseven, that sticker key will work if you clean install with an OEM disk or retail disk.