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How to install windows 7 using own product key?
Hey! I just bought new PC. I never bought any windows with it. I have already windows 7 product key from my laptop. So i wonder how can i install windows 7 and use that product key?
Hey! I just bought new PC. I never bought any windows with it. I have already windows 7 product key from my laptop. So i wonder how can i install windows 7 and use that product key?
You can do this: Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer which will leave the laptop with no Windows on it. The key can only be used on one computer at one time.
In addition to what Britton mentioned above, if the key you have is a so called OEM key meaning it belongs to a pre-installed Windows on your laptop, you cannot use it on any other PC:
In other words when you buy a computer which comes with a pre-installed Windows, the key is tied to that and only that computer and cannot be reused on other computers.
If your Windows 7 is a retail copy you have bought yourself separately, you can use the key on any computer but only on one computer at the time, as Britton already mentioned.
Kari
How do i know if Windows 7 is OEM or retail copy?
Its says on product key : Windows 7 home premium OA
Yes. When i got laptop it was windows on it.
From the previously posted link:
Warning
Using this method causes Windows 7 to lose all activation information, and it needs to be reactivated afterwards. If your Windows 7 is an OEM version, you might not be able to reactivate it, at least not without phone activation option.
I do not recommend to use this method on RAID systems. All experiments on RAID I know have failed.
The Warning Box applies to retail builder's OEM which will sometime get a reactivation variance from MS sctivation phone agents for good reason to move it, as Kari can tell us.
Factory OEM will never get such a variance for reactivation on another PC since it came with the PC and cannot be moved at all.