Solved W7 Hm Prem OEM 1X only install?

[Cukaru]

I bought a desktop at WalMart in 2009, I think it was. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium. I reinstalled W7 Hm Prem about a month ago using DigitalRiver. Now I get the popup that states that my Windows 7 is not genuine.

The first time I contacted Microsoft, the agent asked my for product key, which I gave to him. Then he told me I would have to contact Dell because the OEM came pre-installed. There is no manufacturer's sticker anywhere on the box. I called Dell and they were very nice, but it turns out that it is not a Dell computer.

I called Microsoft for the second time. I got through to a tech person who told me that my OEM was "locked." He went on to say that because it had come pre-installed, it could only be installed that one time.

I did LOTS of research on the internet before I reinstalled, and all I ever saw what that you couldn't install an OEM on a new motherboard because that made it a new computer. I am still using the same motherboard.

Can this be right?

 

[Pauly]

Does the machine have no brand on it at all ?
All legitimate windows machines have to ship with a COA sticker attached to the machine somewhere, have you checked underneath and around the back to make sure it isn't hiding somewhere.

Im not sure I have a complete answer for you hopefully one of the others will, in the meantime run mgadiag tool to pinpoint a few more details that may help us

 

[SIW2]

It came with Windows 7 Home Premium. I reinstalled Windows 7 Hm Prem about a month ago using DigitalRiver. Now I get the popup that states that my Windows 7 is not genuine

Of course you get that.

Now you have overwritten the drive by reinstalling, it is nigh on impossible to find the original activation information, because it was on your hard drive. There is usually a sticker provided with a product key for that reason.

If you don't have any kind of license, looks like you will need to buy one. Unless you can find the make of the machine and contact the oem.

the agent asked my for product key

Where did you get the product key from to tell the agent? Why did he think it was a Dell?

 

[Pauly]

If oem I was thinking that mga would give manufacturer in the slic table info ??? or maybe easier to run speccy or similar software to give you some info on the system manufacturer

 

[SIW2]

Yes, try running some programs to see if they can identify the oem.

rweverything will probably do it. Download | RWEverything

 

[Cukaru]

Answers to questions:

1) In the back pages of the user manual I see that it is a Gateway Acer eMachine. Gateway wants an SNID and when I entered it in their form, apparently they don't want to talk to me unless I pay them. No phone number for Support.

2) I got the original product key from my computer prior to the reinstall. I knew I would need it.

3) I ran the mgadiag tool before I called Microsoft for the 2nd time, and got an error code of 0xC004F063; looked online and that error code was not listed.

4) Don't know why the first guy at Microsoft thought it was a Dell computer.

 

[NoelDP]

Please post the MGADiag report - that code is VERY well-known - and means that you have installed using retail media (from a download) but using the OEM_SLP Key from a manufacturer's Recovery disk.

Dis you look INSIDE the battery compartment for your product Key on the COA sticker?

 

[Cukaru]

I have a .cab file. I can't seem to figure out how to change it to something I can upload. Can you tell me?

I have the product key. I downloaded it prior to reinstalling W7.

Thanks.

 

[Cukaru]

This is a desktop, not a laptop.

 

[SIW2]

If you want to upload a .cab, put it in a .zip file.

 

[Cukaru]

SOLVED! Thank you NoelDP. When you said " you have installed using retail media (from a download) but using the OEM_SLP Key from a manufacturer's Recovery disk", that clued me in that that code might be for the manufacturer, not the retail buyer. Then it would make sense why Microsoft had told me that that code could only install the OS one time.

I got that product key via a software program years ago. Sorry, but I don't remember which one it was. It gave me the manufacturer's code, and I didn't know it.

I "tore down my computer", took it out to where the light was good, looked on all sides and the bottom, and found another product key, the one for the retail buyer, which was me.

For the record, Gateway made it perfectly clear that they didn't want to hear from any of their WalMart customers. They did not put their logo or name anywhere on my machine, and only wrote it once — hidden away and in small print — in the last few pages of the user's manual.

Thank you to all who tried to help. Maybe it will save someone else from having a frustrating day like I had.

Forgot to say I'm validated and back to a blue desktop!

 

[SIW2]

LOL. Plenty of posts earlier saying you need the key from the COA, i.e the sticker on your machine.