Installing win 7 on formatted in old laptop

[TWardy]

I formatted an old HDD on my HDD docking station. Then put it into an old laptop. I have a copied Win 7 installation disc from my laptop. So I put HDD in and Win 7 disc, started up and installed it all the way to entering a password to open desktop but it said invalid password and wouldnt let me reset password. Now the docking station cant read it, just says local disk (G) and doesnt respond. And when I put it back into laptop it said no Bootmgr.

Any ideas
Tim

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I have a copied Win 7 installation disc from my laptop.

Can you be a lot more specific about this disk?

Retail?

OEM?

Burned?

 

[TWardy]

It is a burned win 7 installation disk.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It is a burned win 7 installation disk.

What is the connection between this "burned win 7 installation disk" and your laptop?

Most laptops do not come with an installation disk, certainly not a "burned" disk.

You say the disk is "copied". Do you have the original from which the copy was made?

Or did you burn a disk from something that you downloaded, such as an ISO?

More details needed.

 

[TWardy]

Sorry. I took it to the shop. They put Win 7 on it and gave me a copied Win 7 disk

 

[whs]

I think I gave you an answer on the other forum where you never responded. Let me repeat it:

That cannot be the whole story. A bootmgr that would be on the 100MB system
partition on a new install does not just disappear by itself. And it was
apparently there because else you would not have advanced all the way to the
system asking for the password.


I suggest you put it into your external enclosure and reformat it with Disk
Management. Then you reinstall - but this time without any password. But if you
are using an installation disc that was burnt from the OEM recovery partition,
it must be from the same laptop to where you install.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Sorry. I took it to the shop. They put Win 7 on it and gave me a copied Win 7 disk

The disk you got could be anything--it has an unknown pedigree.

Do you have a Product Key that is supposedly tied to that disc?

At any rate, I'd assume it is an OEM disc of some type and limited legally to the laptop the shop supplied--not usable on some other laptop.

But again, who knows what that disk is?

 

[seavixen32]

Your best bet is to go back to the shop and let them sort out the matter.

Your computer should be supplied with either a retail or OEM version of Windows.

I'm unsure exactly what you mean by a copied disc, but whatever the shop gave you should match up with the COA (Certificate of Authenticity) product key attached to the underside of your laptop.

 

[TWardy]

Ahuh. There is an issue. I'm trying to install it in another laptop

 

[whs]

No good. Use the Windows 8 CP. That is free. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

 

[TWardy]

Cool, thanks for that. Im a little bit confused about the O/S Win 7 and the numbers on the bottom of my laptop. How are they compatible? Did they do that in the shop? If I put a HDD in my hdd dock (on MY working laptop not friends broken one) and install an O/S onto it how would that be compatible (like mine with numbers on the bottom) with the laptop I choose to put it in?

 

[whs]

By "Numbers on the bottom of your laptop" I assume you mean the 25 digit product key on the COA sticker. This is the key you need to activate a Windows installation on that PC. If this is e.g. a Windows 7 Home Premium key, you can download and burn an ISO and install and activate that. Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life

But if you use just any rinky dink DVD of which you do not know the origin, it may not work.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You would have to call Microsoft to find out if you have a valid Product Key and EXACTLY what type it is---OEM, retail, developer's, etc.

It may be invalid.

Or it may be valid ONLY on the PC to which that sticker is attached.

Or something else.

If it is a valid Product Key, you can download a legal ISO, burn it to a disk, and install from that disk--without using that disk you got from the dealer.

A lot of shops are unethical and use unauthorized versions of Windows on customer machines. There is no easy way to tell about your particular Product Key.

 

[TWardy]

The Win 7 disc I have is Authetic. I used it to do a clean re-install on my laptop fine using the product key. Can I use it on another laptop? I'm downloading the Win 7 HP ISO.

Thanks guys. I'm slowly getting it.

 

[TWardy]

thanks a lot guys

 

[F5ing]

The product key is good for one activated installation.

 

[whs]

The Win 7 disc I have is Authetic. I used it to do a clean re-install on my laptop fine using the product key. Can I use it on another laptop? I'm downloading the Win 7 HP ISO.

Thanks guys. I'm slowly getting it.

It may be an authentic disc. But if it is an OEM disc, it is only authentic for your system.
That also explains why it never asked for a product key because on OEM installation disks it is a hard wired generic key that works only with OEM systems of this make (they can check that on the mobo). A Gateway disc would not correctly install on a HP PC whilst it would work perfectly on a Gateway.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The Win 7 disc I have is Authetic. I used it to do a clean re-install on my laptop fine using the product key. Can I use it on another laptop? I'm downloading the Win 7 HP ISO.

Thanks guys. I'm slowly getting it.

Who said the disk is authentic?

Did you call Microsoft and ask them about the Product Key?

Windows disks are a dime a dozen.

What you pay for is the Product Key. Is it authentic? For what type of Windows 7?

If it is an OEM Product Key, no, you cannot use it on another laptop.

But you haven't told us anything about the Product Key and what Microsoft or whoever said about it.

 

[karlsnooks]

TWardy,
one computer = 1 license.
1 license = one computer.

 

[TWardy]

Haha yip, gotcha. Thanks