I had Win 7 Pro 64 bit OEM on my machine and it had become corrupted rather than re-installing from the DVD I downloaded a legal version that contained SP1 now it appears I can't activate it.
Is my only solution to re-install the OEM version and go through the whole SP1 update and Windows Update again.
Thank you for any help you may be able to offer
Martin
Your question on Microsoft Answers has received a reply:
Question
I have an OEM version of Win7PRo 64 and it got corrupted so I downloaded Win7Pro 64 SP1 - now I need a product key?
Reply
You can use a retail Windows 7 Professional disk with a Windows 7 Professional OEM key - phone activation might be needed to activate.
Where To Find Product Key
If you bought a computer with Windows preinstalled there should be a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker with your key somewhere on your computer, on some laptops it’s in the battery bay. It will have a 25 character alphanumeric code on it - that is your product key. If it's not on your computer look in your paperwork or on any CD/DVD cases that were included with the computer.
If online activation fails:
Call Microsoft Using Manual Phone Activation
Note: if you are still installing Windows and at the Enter Your Product Key page, do not enter your key and uncheck "Automatically Activate When Online" then click OK/Next to finish the installation.
1. Begin by clicking the Start menu, then type: slui.exe 4
2. Press Enter on your Keyboard
3. Select your Country.
4. Select the Phone Activation option, call the number, do not select any options and wait for a person to pick up, then explain what happened.
One thing I learned was you must manually type the COA in and not cut and paste it.
Thought this might help someone else. . .
Please note this was a solution from the MS Answers site.
Quote