Windows 7 Acitvation

Dougie · 30 Nov 2009

I have purchased Windows 7 Home Premium and i used my product key to activate it online, but then i bought an ATI graphics card that i think was faulty so i had to exchange that for an Nvidia card and wipe my pc clean to get rid of the ATI drivers.

Now i have windows 7 installed again and it wont let me activate this time, it says "The product key you typed cannot be used to activate windows on this computer".

This can't be right, i can only activate it once and if i need to re-install windows i have to spend another £75 for a product key?

Dark Nova Gamer · 30 Nov 2009

Dougie said:

I have purchased Windows 7 Home Premium and i used my product key to activate it online, but then i bought an ATI graphics card that i think was faulty so i had to exchange that for an Nvidia card and wipe my pc clean to get rid of the ATI drivers.

Now i have windows 7 installed again and it wont let me activate this time, it says "The product key you typed cannot be used to activate windows on this computer".

This can't be right, i can only activate it once and if i need to re-install windows i have to spend another £75 for a product key?

Hello Dougie, welcome to SevenForums. :)

Does it give you the option for phone support? If so try that.

Activate Windows 7 by Phone

richc46 · 30 Nov 2009

Dougie said:

I have purchased Windows 7 Home Premium and i used my product key to activate it online, but then i bought an ATI graphics card that i think was faulty so i had to exchange that for an Nvidia card and wipe my pc clean to get rid of the ATI drivers.

Now i have windows 7 installed again and it wont let me activate this time, it says "The product key you typed cannot be used to activate windows on this computer".

This can't be right, i can only activate it once and if i need to re-install windows i have to spend another £75 for a product key?

If it is an upgrade DVD, check our tutorials for the correct installation. If it is a retail DVD, try installing, again. If it does not install you will be given a phone option. This phone option will allow you to input your key number using a touch tone phone. If this does not work, a representative will speak to you. Just give the facts and your New OS will be up and running.

Dougie · 30 Nov 2009

It's the full version not an upgrade and it installed ok but wont activate it online. I'll try the phone option.

bobkn · 30 Nov 2009

Dougie said:

I have purchased Windows 7 Home Premium and i used my product key to activate it online, but then i bought an ATI graphics card that i think was faulty so i had to exchange that for an Nvidia card and wipe my pc clean to get rid of the ATI drivers.

Now i have windows 7 installed again and it wont let me activate this time, it says "The product key you typed cannot be used to activate windows on this computer".

This can't be right, i can only activate it once and if i need to re-install windows i have to spend another £75 for a product key?

That reads like the error you'd get if your Win7 key was for an upgrade, and you tried it with an install on a drive without a qualifying OS in place. If so, this may be helpful:

Clean install with Windows 7 upgrade media? Get the facts! | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com

The other probable error message would be that the key is already in use. (You may get it once you get the installation to accept the key.) The fix for that would be activating by phone. You'd probably be able to get through it using only the automated system, but the worst case is that you'd have to speak to a live MS rep. You'd be fine; I don't think that even the most restrictive licenses (OEM) would forbid swapping out the graphics card.

By the way, reformatting and re-installing the OS to swap video cards may not be a bad idea, but I doubt that it's usually necessary.

GEWB · 30 Nov 2009

Your problem is Win7 writes info to the master boot record but "format" does not clean out the MBR. You need a bootable disk with "FDISK" on it then run "FDISK /MBR" (without the quotes) to wipe out the Win7 MBR data. Now re-install.

If you don't have an older Windows boot disk (with FDISK) you can do the same thing with almost any Linux live disk (same command).

Regards,
GEWB

gregrocker · 30 Nov 2009

The retail copy is tied to the hardware config, of which vid card is included.

Boot from the DVD and use Custom>Advanced tools to format. It may still reject key upfront, so leave it blank and uncheck box, proceed with install and after getting online activate at Computer>Properties link.

It may have you trade numbers in a robocall to update the hardware config, or elevate you to a person who will accept your explanation.

You own that retail copy for life and as long as you can prove to them it isn't on more than one machine, they cannot steal it back from you as the courts have held many times.

Dougie · 22 Dec 2009

It was because of the hardware changes the activation code thought it was a different computer, but the phone option sorted that. Thanks guys and sorry for the title spelling mistake i feel a bit stupid now because of the typo... lol.

jfar · 22 Dec 2009

Don't worry arbuot the spelfing as long as your sorted, that's the main thing.