Need Retail Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

copiman · 25 Mar 2016

Where can I get a genuine retail version of Windows 7 at a decent price from a good known source?

Barman58 · 25 Mar 2016

I don't think anyone has found a source for any retail keys in a long time, you can try Amazon although even they are only offering OEM in all the categories I've checked, EBay may have some listed but a very high proprtion of even the OEM versions are already used and fail activation, or are straight pirates. Another option would be a small local technician or PC store who may have something unsold

Brds7t7 · 25 Mar 2016

Retail? You've got very little chance of that now. Your best bet is to get an OEM version.
The Retail versions are not easy to find now.

copiman · 25 Mar 2016

Well that sucks. This laptop does not have a COA sticker. Does OEM come with a product key?

Barman58 · 25 Mar 2016

Have you checked inside the battery compartment? I've seen then placed in there to stop damage. the other chance might be to contact the laptop manufacturer for a set of recovery disks - they may have them in stock and they only normally charge a nominal postage fee. the recovery will of course auto activate

Oem does come with a key, but is the same as one from any OEM, no Microsoft support and no transfer to second system

copiman · 25 Mar 2016

Barman58 said:

Have you checked inside the battery compartment? I've seen then placed in there to stop damage. the other chance might be to contact the laptop manufacturer for a set of recovery disks - they may have them in stock and they only normally charge a nominal postage fee. the recovery will of course auto activate

Oem does come with a key, but is the same as one from any OEM, no Microsoft support and no transfer to second system

It has an internal battery. I have the recovery usb drive but it will not work. It seems to load, then says a reboot is required to finish. When it reboots a message "BOOTMGR is missing". Hp was no help in the matter. I did load a copy of 7 and it loaded just fine. Not sure how to resolve the missing BOOTMGR since that is as far as it gets. So I thought just putting 7 on it would be the way to go.

AddRAM · 25 Mar 2016

What do you mean it loaded just fine ?

Did you install Windows 7 or not ?

As suggested, if you can`t find the key then you`ll have to buy it.

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems - Newegg.com

Or you can install any version of linux for free.

copiman · 25 Mar 2016

AddRAM said:

What do you mean it loaded just fine ?

Did you install Windows 7 or not ?

As suggested, if you can`t find the key then you`ll have to buy it.

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems - Newegg.com

Or you can install any version of linux for free.

Since I could not get the HP recovery media to work, I loaded windows 7 from an ISO just to see if it would work and boot. like normal and it did. My friend decided to for go the recovery and just install 7. This is why I wanted to find a place that sold 7 with a product key (from a good known source). Since you posted Newegg, I can give him that information.

DavidE · 25 Mar 2016

Here's something you could try:

After you get to the point when you are trying to restore with the recovery usb drive and it says "BOOTMGR is missing"
Boot with the Win 7 Disc and run a Startup Repair
Startup Repair

Then remove the Win 7 disc and see if will boot up.

copiman · 25 Mar 2016

DavidE said:

Here's something you could try:

After you get to the point when you are trying to restore with the recovery usb drive and it says "BOOTMGR is missing"
Boot with the Win 7 Disc and run a Startup Repair
Startup Repair

Then remove the Win 7 disc and see if will boot up.

I did and that did not work. Just ordered 7 and will install it middle of next week when it gets here.

Thanks for everyone's input.