BSOD Windows 7

No sorry mate that copy if it is an OEM is tied forever to the original board. If it is a retail copy then it can be used again provided it is only used on one machine at a time and then once you have used it for more than say four machines they might just come back at you and ask what is going on.

Now one option is of course to phone Microsoft and explain the original board has gone bad and can you use the OEM copy for the new board. They are usually fairly accommodating but don't try this more than once eh? You will of course need to know the activation code usually on the machine sticker or find it using this first Product Key Number for Windows 7 - Find and See use option 2. If you do contact Microsoft because of that discrepancy in the build they might even say it is not a genuine copy and then we are stuck with getting a new copy which is easier said than done because of finding an OEM - DON'T use EBay mate in any case.

One last option is this Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 - you can use any Windows 7 DVD (say a friends disk) as they have all versions on the disk and you need to use the ei.cfg removal tool to unlock the version you have a valid code for.

I am offline now for a while but post back and let me know what is happening.

CNA said:

I f your Copy is retail one you can do a clean install , but if it is an OEM , you can't .

Yep CNA I did say that already and while you are right I thought a little explanation was in order to make the point of the difference. Plus you can see there is also an option in that tutorial I posted.
between retail and OEM and the uses that a retail copy can be put to.

What I didn't want was the OP to do is go buy another copy that is not genuine as I think the original one probably was and unbeknown to the OP.

Ok Keiron but personally I tried 8 and it really is not my cup of tea and nor is 10 for that matter.

You could try phoning Microsoft like I said and yes they can be quite accommodating mate if you explain the old MB died on you.

Kieron mate just try this once more just to be sure the copy is not genuine I am only assuming it is because of that reference to the 7600 build. Now when I first installed 7 a long time ago it did come as 7600 but it wasn't long before they fixed the problems with the SP1 and the new copies came as 7601.

So have a loo it costs nothing to do.

Genuine Windows - Windows Help

Ok mate thought it worth a try now it is a matter of finding a copy or being able to purchase a key then you could use the tutorial I mentioned in a previous post using a friends DVD.

Now it always seems to me that every time this happens that the version is almost invariably the Ultimate version that is involved and I am guessing that the unscrupulous play on people desire to have the best do so by selling the "Ultimate" version.
In my opinion the Home version just about covers the lot the Pro and Ultimate are just not really needed for general work.