Checking which Win7 CD is mine....

[IcarusII]

Hi guys,

Been a while, primarily becasue due to all your advice when I built my PC everything has worked perfectly since. Anyhow onto my question:

Me and my wife both have PC's. We both have Windows 7. I made certain that when I purchased windows 7 for each, that i purchased the non-OEM version, ie the version which you can move from one pc to another provided its not on both at once.

So in CD collection i have 2 win7 install disks. One was used for my machine and the other for my wifes.

Ive just bought my wife a new pc (hardware only build) and so i now need to install win7 for her and all the drivers, and generally set it up.

How on earth do i tell which of the 2 windows7 cd's is the one which is currently on her old puter so i use that to install onto the new one?

Help!

Thanks
Matt

 

[Gator]

Assuming you bought two of the same exact versions of Win7 (ie Pro, Home Prem, Ultimate etc) then the only real thing you need to do is write down her product key and use it on her PC.

 

[IcarusII]

Firstly thanks for the response.

The two versions are not the same. They are both W7 Home Premium, but hers is a bit older than mine, so hers is just the standard disk whereas mine came with SP1 on the disk too.

But my primary issue is that the boxes (with the CD keys on em) which came with the disks are in the attic (not a problem in iteslf as Im perfectly capable of going into a dusty, spidery filled attic of doom and getting them both).

My problem is how do i tell which CD key belongs to which disk, and also I still dont know which of the 2 disks is hers.

Am I being dim here?

thanks
matt

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If you haven't written down the Product Keys for each somewhere, you can use a progam like Belarc to locate her key and your key in the registry.

The disk with SP1 integrated should say so in plain English on the disk. The other wouldn't.

 

[DavidE]

As long as you use her license on her new PC you can use either disc.
The license is good for one Version, such as Home Premium.
It is good for 64 Bit and 32 Bit.
You just can't have the same license used on more than one PC at the same time - the Retail license can be transferred to a new PC, as you are doing now.

You can download the latest Windows ISO that will include SP1 for her install.
The link to official downloads is in a note in this tutorial.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[Gator]

As long as you use her license on her new PC you can use either disc.
The license is good for one Version, such as Home Premium.
It is good for 64 Bit and 32 Bit.
You just can't have the same license used on more than one PC at the same time - the Retail license can be transferred to a new PC, as you are doing now.

You can download the latest Windows ISO that will include SP1 for her install.
The link to official downloads is in a note in this tutorial.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

Yeah but her version doesn't have SP1 and to my knowledge you can't uninstall SP1 from an install that comes with SP1. So he needs the none SP1 disk else her Key won't work. Am I wrong here?

 

[DavidE]

The key will work with an SP1 install even if the original disc/install (license) was pre SP1.
SP1 and pre SP1 don't matter as far as a valid license is concerned.
The license will work with either.
I would want the disc with SP1 to reduce the number of updates needed after the initial install.

 

[Gator]

The key will work with an SP1 install even if the original disc/install (license) was pre SP1.
SP1 and pre SP1 don't matter as far as a valid license is concerned.
The license will work with either.
I would want the disc with SP1 to reduce the number of updates needed after the initial install.

I asked because I thought the above was true and a few months ago I had to get a non sp1 version and install it or my product key wouldn't work.

Maybe since my key was from dreamspark and a different license agreement my situation was different?

 

[DavidE]

I've never heard of that, but I don't know anything about "dreamspark and a different license agreement".

 

[Gator]

I've never heard of that, but I don't know anything about "dreamspark and a different license agreement".

As a student I get a free copy of Windows 7 Professional from Dreamspark.

My product key wouldn't activate until I got a disk without SP1. After I installed Pro without SP1, product key worked fine and I then downloaded service packs manually.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Firstly thanks for the response.

The two versions are not the same. They are both W7 Home Premium, but hers is a bit older than mine, so hers is just the standard disk whereas mine came with SP1 on the disk too.
~~~

Put the DVDs into a computer and look/compare the dates of the files/folders.

edit: then use the tools that others have mentioned to determine the Product Key of the W7 installation on her current computer.

 

[gregrocker]

You can use the updated media for your licensed version no matter what the source, sku or age of a retail license: Windows 7 Direct Download Links.

Retail license is Full, Upgrade, Builder's OEM, and Student versions.

 

[NoelDP]

FYI
DreamSpark keys are mostly Volume License Keys - and require either a private server for activation, or that the number of activations allowed the issuing organisation hasn't been met/exceeded.
So far as I know they aren't SP-level-dependent, but it's a possibility that MS changed the checking algorithm with SP1.

 

[Gator]

FYI
DreamSpark keys are mostly Volume License Keys - and require either a private server for activation, or that the number of activations allowed the issuing organisation hasn't been met/exceeded.
So far as I know they aren't SP-level-dependent, but it's a possibility that MS changed the checking algorithm with SP1.

Not sure either, but I tried the key a good 4-5 times making sure it was correct, it never worked. This was all new hardware (custom built PC) so I wiped the drive of the SP1 install, installed pro without SP1 and the product key worked first try. *shrugs*

 

[UsernameIssues]

FYI
DreamSpark keys are mostly Volume License Keys - and require either a private server for activation, or that the number of activations allowed the issuing organisation hasn't been met/exceeded.
So far as I know they aren't SP-level-dependent, but it's a possibility that MS changed the checking algorithm with SP1.

Not sure either, but I tried the key a good 4-5 times making sure it was correct, it never worked. This was all new hardware (custom built PC) so I wiped the drive of the SP1 install, installed pro without SP1 and the product key worked first try. *shrugs*

Did you enter this key during the install process or did you skip the key entry step and try to add the key later? Just wondering.

 

[Gator]

FYI
DreamSpark keys are mostly Volume License Keys - and require either a private server for activation, or that the number of activations allowed the issuing organisation hasn't been met/exceeded.
So far as I know they aren't SP-level-dependent, but it's a possibility that MS changed the checking algorithm with SP1.

Not sure either, but I tried the key a good 4-5 times making sure it was correct, it never worked. This was all new hardware (custom built PC) so I wiped the drive of the SP1 install, installed pro without SP1 and the product key worked first try. *shrugs*

Did you enter this key during the install process or did you skip the key entry step and try to add the key later? Just wondering.

I think I tried both. Then when I wiped and reinstalled I did it during install which worked fine.

 

[gregrocker]

If it's not retail then I'd contact the Dreamspark program or MS Customer Service to ask how you go about reinstalling your property. They should have a way to do this.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Gator]

If it's not retail then I'd contact the Dreamspark program or MS Customer Service to ask how you go about reinstalling your property. They should have a way to do this.

Let us know what you find out.

Everything is fine on my end, are you just saying it should have worked regardless of SP1 or not?

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, if it activated with a Dreamspark Product Key then it should be retail as opposed to VLK which I believe has another process. But I've never seen a retail key not able to activate either pre-SP1 or with SP1.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Not sure either, but I tried the key a good 4-5 times making sure it was correct, it never worked. This was all new hardware (custom built PC) so I wiped the drive of the SP1 install, installed pro without SP1 and the product key worked first try. *shrugs*

Did you enter this key during the install process or did you skip the key entry step and try to add the key later? Just wondering.

I think I tried both. Then when I wiped and reinstalled I did it during install which worked fine.

Thanks for the info.

Let's hope that the OP has all the info needed to get things installed one way or the other.