Bought used netbook - Q's on windows activation

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  1. Posts : 21,482
    Win 7 x64 Home Premium (and x86 VirtualBox VM)/Win10
       #11

    The devil is in the details :)
    let's deal with your second query first.
    All Windows disks have embedded Keys. NONE of those Keys can ever be activated over the internet or by phone.

    Recovery Disks from majow manufacturers have what are called OEM_SLP Keys embedded in them (as does yours in your report above). These Keys are 'special', in that they acan allow teh proper system to self-activate, given the other parts required. Those other parts are the SLIC table in the BIOS, and certificates in the OS. The SLIC table and the certificates are specific to a particular manufacturer, so an OEM_SLP Key from, say, ASUS, will not work with a disk from Dell, even if it's on an ASUS computer - likewise, an ASUS Key and Disk will not work on a Dell computer.

    The Key is only a part of the license.
    In the case of machines from large manufacturers, all come with a COA sticker for the pre-installed licensed version of Windows. Unless you can demonstrate ownership through another route (such as an Upgrade disk and license/Key), no other version of Windows is legitimately licensed on that machine, whatever any technical tests may say.

    i.e. just passing the tests doesn't make it a legitimate installation, you must also be able to prove ownership of the license - which in Windows is either the COA sticker, or in the case of Retail (including Upgrade) licenses, the Proof of License sticker.

    All OEM_SLP Keys are pre-installed, or installed from Recovery disks, and again, the machine must have a COA sticker with a matching COA sticker (with a different - unique - Key).


    Does that filter some of the mud out of the water?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #12

    Thanks again for the explanations. I had to read it again and again till it started to sink in.

    In the end, I used one of my family pack licenses. I got one of those 0xc004c008 errors on validation. (You used your license too many times) I called in and after giving my install ID, the automated voice asked me how many computers this was installed on. I said "three" because this is the third in a family pack. The robot then told me my license doesn't cover that and hung up on me.

    I called again, and used that trick of not saying anything until they finally transferred me to a real person. I gave the ID again, and the real person gave me the code right away, which worked. I don't get it, but whatever.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 21,482
    Win 7 x64 Home Premium (and x86 VirtualBox VM)/Win10
       #13

    The Automated activation line would probably have worked if you'd said 'one' - but it may also have invalidated the other installs you do have. I don't have any idea how MS work the Family pack upgrades into the system, as there's no way to check which machine has been 'moved'. To my mind it would have been better to include three Keys in the pack (and less confusing), but MS may have considered that it was better for the system to allow excess activations than to have people installing the same Key a numner of times and invalidating another machine in the process. (I know what I mean - even if I can't express it well! <G>)
      My Computer


 
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