Solved Replaced failed hard drive on Acer Aspire 5734z. Windows validation.

[grfull]

My hard drive failed on an Acer Aspire 5734z that I have. I replaced the hard drive and reloaded Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit from a downloaded copy. Since this is the same OS as originally came on this laptop, how do I get it validated? Or, alternately, how do I get a replacement OS without having to buy it again?

 

[VistaKing]

Hi grfull Welcome to SF

You may activate via Internet ( tutorial link below )

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3408-activate-windows-7-online.html

Over the phone ( tutorial link below )

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18715-activate-windows-7-phone.html

Use the product key under the laptop or under the battery .

 

[gregrocker]

Did you follow the steps to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7?

If not I'd do it over to get it perfect.

 

[grfull]

Let me restate this problem

Hard drive failed on my Acer Aspire 5734z. I replaced it with a new WD hard drive. Apparently, I incorrectly thought that I could just reload windows 7 Home Premium 64bit from any source, and use the product activation key on the bottom of the PC to validate it. It never asked me for an activation key when I installed it, and, I tried to go into system properties and enter it there. There was no place to enter the key. I also tried to search for slui.exe to see if I could enter it there. But I got:
C:\Windows\system32\slui.exe
Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

I am the only user and the administrator on this PC. I feel like I must have done it wrong from the get go.
Can someone tell me, from square one, how I should ( or should have) proceed(ed) in order to get a validated Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OS installed without having to repurchase it? Everything was working great until I tried to download Microsoft Security Essentials. That's when it said this copy of Windows was not valid (or however they put it) saying that Security Essentials could only be installed on a computer with Genuine Windows 7. Everything else works fine, but I would like to validate Windows and be able to use MS Security Essentials.

 

[gregrocker]

From where did you download Win7? You should have had the chance to insert the Product Key during install.

If not it arouses suspicion that you got a dodgy Win7 copy, which is unnecessary since the latest official installer is provided in the very first step of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which has helped tens of thousands of users get a perfect reinstall without a single complaint.

 

[grfull]

I'm so sorry. My apologies to you guys. I glazed right over the link about Clean Reinstall OEM etc. I've gone back and began reading that information, and it looks like it will, in fact, solve my problem. Thanks to gregrocker for pointing me in the right direction. (even though I failed to follow directions ) I should have gone to this source in the first place. It would have saved an awful lot of time and trouble for me and everyone else. You guys and this forum are absolutely GREAT!! I'm so glad I found it!

 

[gregrocker]

No worries since you've found us now. Stick with the tools and methods in the tutorial and you'll get and keep a perfect reinstall.

Be sure to pay attention to how drivers are best handled in Win7, which is different than XP.

After making your Recovery disks (if you want them) you can delete all partitions during install to get the cleanest slate. Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for Recovery media and Restoring a system to factory load