win 7 product key

I would be inclined to buy a genuine retail copy of whichever version you want. Backup all your data from your current installation, and then start afresh with your new copy.

hoj1955 said:

A few months back I bought a copy of win 7 pro on ebay. As I found out this weekend it was a copy that was, as microsoft support put it, a subscription version not meant for home use. The " subscription" has run out and now I am the proud owner of a nongenuine version that I can't get updates for. (teach!) Anyway, I understand that my option is to buy a new version (product key) and change the key on my current installation to the new key and I won't have to reinstall the os. If it is this simple and all I'm actually doing is buying a product key, which version can I buy in order to do this. I'm currently using win 7 pro 64 bit. I've been on line checking prices. I've seen home to pro update, cheapest. pro oem and finally pro retail. Any input on this will be greatly appreciated.

If you're used to Pro version, you can always buy the same Version on MS Store and for very few more directly go to Ultimate, which gives you some more features that you might enjoy in the future.

What you had was likely a Technet subcription. It's basically a subscripition to "test" all Microsoft software for a period of time. Alot of people use these subcriptions as their permanent product key even though they're not intended for that use. If that's something you're interested in, keep in mind that you must buy a new subscription each year. This is cheaper that buying retail versions if you use a lot of Microsoft products.

Anyway, I don't think you'll be able to use a Home to Pro anytime upgrade key. I could be wrong though. Either way, there are some restrictions on the cheaper keys. The biggest difference between retail and oem is the fact that OEM keys don't come with product support and they are locked to the hardware you activate them on. In other words you can't call up Microsoft with questions and if you want to change your cpu or motherboard, you'll need to either buy a new product key or sweet talk Microsoft into allowing you to switch to the new hardware. They sometimes do this in the case of hardware failure, etc. If you're planning on sticking with the same hardware for a while I'd go with the OEM key, otherwise you might want to go with Retail.

Good cleared state!