Solved Moving a hard drive with OA key to new motherboard, new retail key?

[JayArr]

Hi

I've been reading threads here for about a couple of hours but haven't found anyone with my exact problem. I hope this is not a common question that will get me flamed.

Here's all the background, please bear with me, I want to be as complete as possible...

I've got a customers Acer laptop with a bad motherboard, it won't boot.

The hard drive has Windows 7 Home premium OA.

Now I know from reading that that version of 7 is tied to the MB it was first installed on and I'm OK with that. I'm not whining about having to buy a new OS or trying to find a way to make it work on a new board without paying for it.

The laptop is loaded with thousands of dollars worth of industrial software to diagnose large factory machines. The software is designed to run only on Windows 7. There is no upgrade available for windows 8, just a fresh version at $6000.

I went out and bought another Acer laptop almost exactly the same, the hardware is identical except for a slightly slower graphics chip.

The new laptop had windows 8 but since it was the demo model at Staples it has now been upgraded to 10.

I want to try to put the HDD from the failed laptop into the new one, I did it once already and it boots but it came up with a screen talking about versions or mismatches or something and I powered down without entering anything, I didn't want to do any damage.

So now I know that it won't transfer on it's current licence but the tutorial by Kari assumes you still have a working computer to do sysprep with on the drive before you put it onto the new MB. I don't have any way of doing sysprep because the only MB that this hard drive would boot on has failed.

I've already ordered a retail copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. This will give me a good transferable key.

I could use the new DVD and a fresh drive from Staples and load a clean install but then I'll have hours and hours of software loading and configuration to do and if you think talking Microsoft into allowing you to install a package twice is tough you should try Rockwell International/Allen Bradley.

Here's the question:

Is there any way - without the original motherboard - to get the OEM drive to accept a new retail key on a new motherboard?

Thanks
JayArr

 

[Ranger4]

Hi JayArr, welcome to the Forum.

You should be able to change activation key. This tutorial show you how.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18630-product-key-number-change.html

 

[JayArr]

Thanks for the welcome Ranger4

How am I going to get into the control panel to change the product key if the computer won't boot because the product key is wrong?

Remember the only motherboard this hard drive will boot on is dead.

This is beginning to feel like a chicken and the egg conundrum.


JayArr

 

[Ranger4]

Having the wrong product key should not stop it from booting, if that was the case there would be no way of changing it.

Your problem is probably due to the new computer being set up with a UEFI BIOS. You will need to get into the BIOS settings & change it to Legacy & disable Fast Boot.

Check that your existing hard drive, the one that you will be using, is recognised in the BIOS.

 

[JayArr]

OK, I'll do that in the morning.

Thanks Ranger4!

 

[Ranger4]

Where I said Fast Boot it should be Secure Boot that needs to be disabled.

Post back if you have any problems.

 

[OvenMaster]

I've already ordered a retail copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. This will give me a good transferable key.

Where were you able to order a retail copy of Win 7 Home??

 

[JayArr]

ebay

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 64 BIT SP1 Full Version 2 CD'S NEW COA | eBay

Is that not a good copy?

 

[whs]

This may or may not be a good copy - matter of trying. This is not something one buys from Ebay - too many scams.

 

[JayArr]

I've had more good success off eBay than bad with software but I have been burned a few times..

This guy had a whole string of people who bought the exact same item that said it worked. I'll know more in a couple of hours, he's sending me the a photo of the key# before he ships the package so I can get started today.

If he burns me I'll just buy from someone else, it's only $80.

 

[MeOnMine]

If I may make a suggestion!

Please clone the HDD you wish to play with on the new M/B as a back up as it sounds very important not to lose the software and data on it.

FWIW the BIOS/UEFI settings is always the first place I go to as well.

 

[JayArr]

That's an excellent suggestion MeOnMine.

I think I'll stop by Staples and grab a new drive to clone to so I can leave the original alone.

This hard drive has four partitions, the main one with Windows, the factory partition and two others ( I don't know what they're for)

Any suggestions on the easiest way to clone the whole drive so all four partitions get copied? I want to make sure the MBR and all that boot stuff gets copied properly.

Jeff

 

[MeOnMine]

I use Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15 Pro (in fact it is in use as we speak).
Macrium Reflect freeware is suggested on this forum.
You will need "Copy Hard Disk" as opposed to "Copy Partition"
Copy disk will clone everything so it will be a bootable unit.

So my question to the others more knowledgeable is, will Macrium free copy or clone Hard Disk ?

 

[MeOnMine]

The download page for Macrium suggests it does.
"Direct disk cloning"

 

[JayArr]

Hi All

I'm back to work after the holiday and still frustrated by this laptop.

I took MeoMine's advice and grabbed a new hard drive and Acronis 2016 and cloned the drive.

I now have the cloned drive of Windows 7 in the new laptop that had Windows 8 and here are the results.

I went into BIOS like Ranger4 suggested and turned the secure boot off and the boot mode to legacy.

Boot Mode = Legacy
Secure Boot = disabled


Despite being recognized in the BIOS the hard drive isn't bootable, I get the message:

"no bootable device"

So working up from there I tried:

Boot Mode = UEFI
Secure Boot = disabled

There are three possible results in this category:

1) if I tell it to start windows normally it freezes at "Starting Windows"

2) if I try to boot in safe mode it stalls after executing CLASSPNP.sys but if you wait about a minute you get a line of garbage accross the top of the screen before it hangs.

3) if I use F8 and choose repair your computer I just get the line of garbage accross the top of the screen and it hangs.


My theory is that the video driver is different between the original laptop and the new one but it's just a theory.

I've got a good new windows 7 COA/Key but the actual DVD isn't here yet (the seller sent me the key number by email.)

I was hoping to get this booted and change the key and get back to work, any suggestions?

JayArr

 

[JayArr]

BTW... if I turn on Secure Boot and UEFI I get the attached error screen.


File: \windows\system32\winload.efi

Status: 0xc0000428

Info: The digital signature for this file couldn't be verified.

 

[MeOnMine]

Hi, my first question is did you clone or copy disk or partition ?
No bootable device means no MBR to read from.
The MBR is the 100mb System Reserved.
I am not trying to be rude I am just trying to ascertain your level of knowledge.

Boot Mode = Legacy
Secure Boot = disabled

This should be correct, how old is the laptop compared to the laptop the OS came from.

 

[JayArr]

Hi MeoMine

It was a clone not a copy, it duplicated the entire drive, all four partitions and made it bootable. I used Acronis 16 and I used it in rescue CD mode where you boot to the CD not from within windows.

The drive does boot, if there was no MBR then it wouldn't get to the "Starting Windows" splash screen.

The "old" laptop was only one year old, built in May of 2014, the new one is built in Feb of 2015 so they are only 9 months apart. They are basically the same model.

I would guess that the "old" laptop's hard drive is configured for UEFI and that's why Legacy doesn't work.

I've downloaded a Win 7 .iso and am making a USB stick with it to see if that will allow me to repair it.

JayArr

 

[Ranger4]

@ JayArr. I think you are going to have to wait until the Windows 7 DVD you ordered arrives. When you have that you should be able to reset all the BIOS settings & the necessary drivers will get loaded.

Changing the motherboard & expecting the hard drive to load normally, just does not work. It usually means having to reinstall the OS as well.

 

[JayArr]

OK, but here's a quick question.

The DVD that's on it's way is exactly the same as the Win7 .iso I just downloaded right?

If I make a USB thumb drive with the .iso and I have the key from the software I bought, (he sent it by email) can I proceed to try to fix this?

JayArr