how many times can i activate w7 ?

drugo · 26 Oct 2011

Hi

i know there is a limit to activate vista

how many times can i activate my windows 7?

thanks

Beta · 26 Oct 2011

Depends on what ver. you have.

Brink · 26 Oct 2011

Hello Drugo,

It's the same for Windows 7 as it is with Vista.

Family Pack - You can only have the product key number activated on any three computers at once, and must be uninstalled from any other computer.

Retail - You can only have the product key number activated on any one computer at a time, and must be uninstalled from any other computer.

OEM - You will only be able to activate the product key number on the exact same computer that it was first activated on, and not on any other computer. You can reinstall as much as you like on the same computer that it was first activated on though.

drugo · 26 Oct 2011

Brink said:

Hello Drugo,

It's the same for Windows 7 as it is with Vista.

Family Pack - You can only have the product key number activated on any three computers at once, and must be uninstalled from any other computer.

Retail - You can only have the product key number activated on any one computer at a time, and must be uninstalled from any other computer.

OEM - You will only be able to activate the product key number on the exact same computer that it was first activated on, and not on any other computer. You can reinstall as much as you like on the same computer that it was first activated on though.

thanks
i mean , i have 2 pc , a desktop w7 and laptop xp
about w7 if i change hardware or pc , is there a limit to activate it?
i mean i don't want to activate in more then 1 pc at once

ignatzatsonic · 26 Oct 2011

drugo said:

is there a limit to activate it?

It still depends on what version you have.

seavixen32 · 26 Oct 2011

This Wiki should help you to unravel the intricacies of Microsoft's activation policies:

Windows Product Activation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another interesting article here:

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/ProductActivation.htm

Zepher · 26 Oct 2011

I think he means, How many times can I activate Windows 7 before the activations no longer work?
I am not sure what the limit is on normal retail and OEM versions, but the Retail Technet versions give you only 10 activations before the key is invalid.

drugo · 26 Oct 2011

Zepher said:

I think he means, How many times can I activate Windows 7 before the activations no longer work?
I am not sure what the limit is on normal retail and OEM versions, but the Retail Technet versions give you only 10 activations before the key is invalid.

yes i meant this

thanks

seavixen32 · 26 Oct 2011

Google is your friend.

Activating Windows: frequently asked questions

Mark Phelps · 27 Oct 2011

I know what MS claims, but the reality is, if you try to reactivate using the same key "too often", it will eventually refuse to reactivate and you will have to use the Phone option to get it working. I've had this happen on my Retail version when I was repeatedly reinstalling to test out some stuff. So, even though you SHOULD be able to reactivate a Retail version an infinite number of times, you will still eventually get the error message.