Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

This is the perfect place to mention it, John, as I am the OP.

I´ll try it as soon as I get back to the states. Thanks!

P.S.- I tried to to reply to your PM but you are not receiving them. Did you know this?

Just a quick question. not sure if it has been asked before, however i went to do a reinstall the other day on a laptop of a colleagues and the Windows 7 product key was compeletely unreadable. Is there any way of finding out what the product key was?

Not unless it's already been Clean Reinstalled at least once. Otherwise to audit the key will yield a Product ID with "OEM" in its string, which means the accompanying Product Key cannot be used because it is the factory mass activation key.

Some users have reported luck reinstalling then if they cannot piece together the key, calling MS Phone Activation line to ask for help. Sometimes they can use the Product ID to determine authenticity and issue a new key.

There is also a method on the web to back up factory SLP activation file to reinstall it afterwards, but it is not supported here by decision of the Admins so we cannot discuss it further.

No, I thought I explained it John but apparently came up short so will try again:

The key which shows up on the Factory OEM install when audited is an SLP factory mass activation key which cannot be used to Clean Reinstall.

The COA sticker is required so that users have the choice of how they want their OS property installed, and can leave the confines of the OEM to activate directly under the protection of MS servers without any further interference by the OEM.

But requires having a readable Product Key on the COA sticker. The other choices are to run Factory Recovery from its partition, Recov media which should have been made at setup or can be ordered from the OEM Tech Support. But as I said we do get reports that users were able to talk MS Phone Activation into providing a new key if the agent is satisfied enough information such as the Product ID checks out.

No problem, John. It's hard to explain and baffles many.