Solved OEM vs Retail--How to tell?

[AddRAM]

Let us know when you`ve activated windows with the key you got online.

 

[Jambe]

That's the same disc you used for the install you originally asked about?

It sounds like you used an upgrade disc to do a clean install, is this what you did? YES

What did you purchase? An upgrade or full version? I thought is was a full version but it wasn't.

It might be easier if you just pointed us to the site you purchased the original PAK from.

I'm back--with some bad news and some really bad news!

Here is where I purchased the software:

Microsoft Windows | Designer Tech Software

My choice was the middle of the third row down.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Download Upgrade | Designer Tech Software
The one below WAS labelled as OEM. Mine wasn't.

I tried three or four times yesterday to contact them by phone and all I could get was what sounded like an answering service and then "There is no one available to take your call."

That is the bad news.

So, I did what Slartybart suggested and downloaded the .ISO, then I re-did a clean install following the advice of Sean Webster on another site. After that is when the really bad things happened because of my stupidity and I am now wondering if I will ever be able to recover.

(Sorry. I will have to continue this in a few hours.)

 

[Layback Bear]

Boy oh boy what a mess.
I don't know who Sean Webster is but I do know who Shawn Brink is.
If you have the proper COA this is the method to install Windows 7.

Tutorial by Brink:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

If you have the proper hardware and proper COA it will work and has for thousands if not millions.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I did a quickie search on the vendor; the news is not good. What few vendor reviews I found were less than stellar. It's not BBB accredited. Only two complaints were filled with the BBB. One was resolved with assistance from the BBB. The other was unresolved; the BBB couldn't get a response from the vendor.

Since the vendor is located in Hayward, CA, I would first file a complaint with the BBB. You aren't likely to get any results that way but is necessary before doing the next step: filing a consumer fraud complaint with the State Attorney General Offices of CA and your home State. Most likely, your home State's AG office will pass the buck to the CA office but filing the complaint in both States will give your complaint a bit more weight and you will have one to fall back on should CA decline to handle the complaint. The chances of you getting your money back is somewhere between fat and slim (but not nonexistent) but it would still be worthwhile to file the complaints even if only to put an unscrupulous business out of business.

 

[Slartybart]

..... So, I did what Slartybart suggested and downloaded the .ISO, then I re-did a clean install following the advice of Sean Webster on another site. After that is when the really bad things happened because of my stupidity and I am now wondering if I will ever be able to recover.

Follow Layback's post# 23 and things should be fine,
assuming the Product Activation Key (PAK) they sold you is valid.

It's best to download your Ethernet driver first (in the tutorial too, but,,,, emphasis often helps)
That will be the first thing you install after Windows so that you can connect to the Internet and start manually checking for updates. You should also take advantage of Windows updating your drivers - they are located in the optional Windows Update. None are selected by default. Select them and let them install.

You'll want the following ISO
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 U (media refresh) X17-58997.iso

Bill
.

 

[Jambe]

Continuing...
You guys are probably familiar with this tutorial:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

I thought this would work for my case. I spaced out two things though. First mistake: I glossed over the RED word in the first sentence: retail. That is what I intended to have but I now know I have an OEM upgrade.
Second mistake: I left (or added) the check mark in the line 'Activate Windows when on-line' which the tutorial specifically says don't check.

When I did connect and activate I received an error message that was less than helpful--it didn't say why the activation failed. Of course I failed to write down the error number.

Now that the activation failed I tried Option 3 in the link above. I got another error message. I did notice that the number was not the same as the Code in Option 3.

So, my question now is: Is it possible, given my clean install on a new build, with an OEM upgrade disk and what is supposed to be a valid PAK, to get this activated? Would Microsoft have kept a record of my attempt to activate and now will never allow it to happen?

I have wondered if having activated a copy of Vista on this computer would make the outcome different. (i do have three copies of Vista, two of which have been used--and I don't know which ones have been used and which one hasn't so that's a problem and I hate to start over with Vista.)

(My .ISO is X17-24209.iso. I burned it into a disk using ImageBurn.)

 

[Slartybart]

Well.....

This will be your choice.

Windows 7 Home Premium x86 SP1 U (media refresh) X17-58996.iso
is a better base to start - it already has SP1 and the media refresh includes even more updates.

Creating the Windows install media is better done with the use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with the ISO as described in most of the Win7 install tutorials

Since you're really at a starting point, now would be a good time to start over with the new information following
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html
or
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

Both will get you to the same place - but read them first, make notes, collect what you need to collect.....

The ISO I referenced is retail.

The other choice right now would be to activate over the phone. Then spend a lot of time running Windows Update.

The choice is yours, but I would take the easier route and get the SP1 ISO, make new install media and start fresh. It really takes much less time.

Bill
.

 

[Jambe]

Bill,

Just to clarify, the .ISO I downloaded is Home Premium X64, SP1. ImgBurn works on .ISO files so I don't think it is causing any problems--it installs the same as a retail Microsoft disk.

 

[Jambe]

Would it be recommended to run this bat file before attempting to activate?

From Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version (Option 3)

Activate_Windows_Upgrade_after_Clean_Install.bat

 

[Slartybart]

Bill,

Just to clarify, the .ISO I downloaded is Home Premium X64, SP1. ImgBurn works on .ISO files so I don't think it is causing any problems--it installs the same as a retail Microsoft disk.

Not according to my information it isn't. I'll restate that the media refresh also contains many updates that you'd have to download through Windows Update (WU).

It was a matter of ease, not correctness. If you're already at SP1 and you don't mind running WU, then that will get you there too. Imgburn - I'll take your word for it, the process I know is the one in the tutorial. I know some members use a different disc creator (not Imgburn) for Windows ISO media creation, but I can't recall what it is at the moment. If you used the disc to install, cool.

Running the bat file:
Are you getting error 0xc004f061?
Step 1 in Option three is a bit ambiguous "got a activation error", even though the option is specific.

You really only have two choices

1. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18715-activate-windows-7-phone.html
2. try the bat - Option Three, step 2
   (if that fails, activate by phone)

Bill
.

 

[NoelDP]

Mind if I butt in with a few comments to clarify things for everyone (hopefully)?
1) the installed Key is an OEM_NSLP (System Builder) one
2) that being the case, the existence/validity of any SLIC table is irrelevant. The MGADiag report here looks fine to me.
3) having said that - if the sale was of a Retail package, it should have had TWO disks (x86 and x64) and a Key, and should NOT have produced such a PID. It is therefore fraudulent (depending on the exact wording of the advert, and the package type actually received.
The ONLY legitimate vendor of Electronic Keys is Microsoft itself for retail - and to a limited extent Dell and HP for OEM versions.

4) MS has - for Windows 7 at least - seemingly pretty much ignored the 'only for resale' clause in the SB terms (perhaps as preparation for the newer OEM/Home Use license for Win8.0 - which has itself now been replaced in Win8.1 with something I haven't looked at)
5) There are good reasons for purchasing and installing Retail licenses on anything other than a new machine - or if you intend to change motherboards regularly.
6) Most home builders will buy a machine, install Windows on it, and then run the machine until it dies, by which time a new version of Windows is out, and they'll want to install that on their new machine. For that type of user, an OEM SB license is ideal, and MS will normally allow (and historically has allowed) at least one change of motherboard so long as the reason given for the change is 'replacement of defective motherboard with nearest available equivalent' - even to acknowledged self-build machines.