Help with performing a clean install

A few months back I discovered a rootkit on my laptop which was hiding in the winsxs folder. I don't believe that it has been removed, but I can't detect it anymore. It doesn't cause any problems on the surface, but it is indeed causing some problems. So I plan on doing a clean install of Windows 7. Before I do it I want to make sure that I will be able to activate it. I am going to use a copy of Windows 7 that has been used once already (on my desktop). I plan on activating it with the current product key that the laptop is using now. Will this work?

No, you can not activate Windows on two different computers with the same product key. It is tied to your laptop hardware.

I don't plan on using the product key from the windows 7 copy I have. I plan on using the product key that the laptop (which came with windows 7 installed) is using. I was told in another thread that this would work.

Sorry mate. I didn't read your first post correctly. Yeah, it should work with no problem. It doesn't matter if you use the same copy of Windows on both computers as long as you have a product key for both.

Thanks I appreciate the help.