Installing Genuine win 7 over non genuine version

I have a laptop purchased several years ago off e-bay with Win 7 installed and it worked fine for well over a year but then I got the " This in not a genuine win 7 blah blah and black screen. It was a little late to return the computer like over a year or more so I have just been using it with ugly accusatory messages and black screen! Ok Microsoft you win, I bought a legit new two DVD 32 and 64 bit Win 7. Since the machine came with the Ultimate version I bought the ultimate version.

Here is what I want to know. How do I substitute this genuine version for my bad version without losing my other programs? I don't want to start all over as I have a whole lot of programs that I want to keep as is. Can I do that?

Hello w6k and welcome to Seven Forums.

If everythig is working OK on your computer it should be just a simple matter of changing the invalid Product Key with the PK from your newly purchased disk.

Product Key Number - Change

If you have any performance issues or just would like to experience a pefect Win7 install better than 90% of all others have, then follow these same steps to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

At Steps 7 and 8 of Clean Install Windows 7 delete all partitions and create new as you wish, or just click Next to begin the install and installer wil do it for you.

Pay close attention to how drivers are handled in Win7 in the tutorial. Put your network driver in your backup so you can install it if necessary to get online and do all rounds of Windows Updates first off.