Windows 7: Uninstalling Win7 and unactivating the Key

Reg Ister · 11 Oct 2009

Hi,

I am thinking about changing out my hard drive that currently has Win7 on it.
I want to replace it with a larger drive.

The question is how do I de-activate the license so that when I re-install I can activate it on the new drive?

Thanks

Zen00 · 11 Oct 2009

It does it for you automatically. You won't be able to use the install on the old drive though. So wipe it.

I guess I should say that, Windows verifies against the motherboard and other components in your computer. As long as you don't make any major hardware changes, you should never have a problem reinstalling and verifying your copy of Windows on that computer as much as you want.

Reg Ister · 11 Oct 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by Zen00

It does it for you automatically. You won't be able to use the install on the old drive though. So wipe it.

t.

Hi, first off, thanks.

Second, I am going to trash that hard drive (I think it is causing problems) so that isn't the issue.

Third, what is then the right procedure to uninstall Win7 on the hard drive so that the license on that hard drive is unactivated?

Thanks again.

Kari · 11 Oct 2009

You don't have to unactivate it. It's done automatically when you activate it after installing on new hard drive.

Kari

SIW2 · 11 Oct 2009

Hi Reg Ister,

What kind of product key do you have?

Zen00 · 11 Oct 2009

Ooo, good question that.

Yeah, if it's a upgrade, make sure that you copy the old hard drive data onto the new one, or you won't be able to install windows, unless you have a copy of vista lying around.

bobkn · 12 Oct 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by Reg Ister

Hi,

I am thinking about changing out my hard drive that currently has Win7 on it.
I want to replace it with a larger drive.

The question is how do I de-activate the license so that when I re-install I can activate it on the new drive?

Thanks

Microsoft has no explicit de-activation.

Online activation on a new drive may fail, with the message that the key is already in use. You may have to re-activate by telephone. The automated system will probably work. If not, you will have to speak with a Microsoft representative, and explain why you need a new activation code. Total time: about five minutes.

You might consider cloning the installation from the old drive to the new. That may not trigger the need to re-activate Windows, but if you've made enough hardware changes, you may have to re-activate anyway.

DeaconFrost · 12 Oct 2009

If you are certain that the hard drive is causing an issue, and not the files/structure on it, why not just clone it to the new drive? This is, unless you are sure you want to do a fresh install.