Validation of OEM Win7/64 installed on new hard drive--have OLD one

Thanks for the suggestions. Let me tell you what I learned & what worked.

3 types of Windows, mine was an OEM / Upgrade.
Windows installations are tied to the Motherboard/BIOS--not to the hard drive.
Magic Jellybean program retrieved a "default product code" that could not be used.

On the phone with MSFT and even though I could not produce the original product key, they eventually bought my story. Although we had access to the original HD via USB, Magic Jellybean could NOT retrieve the product key from it--since it was not the boot CD. Due to disk read or controller errors, the old HD took 15 minutes to boot. They offered to stay on the phone with me while I reconfigured my system (HD from external to internal) to boot and bring it up, but I suggested that it would take 15-20 minutes and would be a waste of their time--offering to call them back when the old HD was driving the system. After another two minutes of consultation while I was on hold they GAVE ME A NEW AND WORKABLE product key, which they installed using remote desktop.

It is interesting to me that the original CD (provided to me w/out any product key--AFAIK) worked the first time (18 months ago), but not the second. The answer may have been the this OEM copy was actually an Upgrade copy (perhaps not really an true full OEM version) that I had installed into an XP partition. The second installation was attempted on an HD that had not had a prior O/S installed on it.

Interestingly, MSFT used the Magic Jellybean program in their initial attempt to retrieve my key. First they got the same data I had failed with ("default product key cannot be used to activate Windows"--paraphrase, and second it failed to access the registry of my USB-connected originial hard drive.

This is why I said you'd need to swap the old HD in place of the new to read the Product Key - obviously Windows needs to be booted to do so.

If this is a Win7 Upgrade kit from Vista, then it included a Product Key with the disk which can be clean reinstalled. It's key should be work when audited from the HD.

Any Upgrade from XP you bought would have to be retail or possibly from the manufacturer in which case it could be OEM and/or Upgrade. You should know this since it is within recent history. The Product Key would be readable from the HD and should work.

If this is the original OS preinstalled at factory then the key would be on the COA sticker. The Product Key audited from HD would not work since it is a factory mass activation SLP key.