Win7 Pro activation

[thx1138v2]

I haven't done any of this recently, hence this post. An elderly friend's Lenovo laptop went bonkers. He took it to a shop and they trashed the partition table. Lenovo no longer supports the machine at all.

So I've gone through the install nightmare with a Windows 7 Pro OEM CD just to see if we can get it working and after many hours of diddling drivers, etc it is fully functional except for activation.

Activation won't work with the product key from the OEM CD I used. Two questions:

1. Can I use the product key from a newly purchased Windows 7 Pro OEM CD to activate the install that is already there without having to go through the install again with the new CD?

2. If not, will a new install from the new OEM CD with the new OEM product key be activated properly or has Microsoft disabled product activation for Windows 7?

 

[techgeek]

Is there not a sticker on the laptop with a product key. Of course it has to be the same version of Windows.

 

[faalin]

Whatever version of windows 7 you installed you need to buy the same version for the key to work, there is no need to reinstall just type in the new key on the computer.

If there is a sticker on the laptop with the key you can use that one to activate windows, but once again it has to be the same version as what the sticker says it is.

 

[COLGeek]

Assuming both the Product Key on the Lenovo and the install media match, there should not be an issue. That is the first thing to check. The answer to question 1 is "yes", but as noted earlier should not be required assuming the key/media match.

If they match and you still have issues, you may need to manually activate the OS with MS. Just use the phone method.

 

[thx1138v2]

Is there not a sticker on the laptop with a product key. Of course it has to be the same version of Windows.

There is a sticker but it is Windows 7 Home Premium OEM and Lenovo does not support it any more. In fact I couldn't even find the machine part number listed on their site and there is no phone number to call for a Z series machine.

I used the Win7 Pro CD just to see if it we could get it running because that's what I had on hand. I guess I could buy another Windows 7 Home Premium CD but I would really rather not have to do another install.

 

[COLGeek]

You can't activate Pro with a Premium product key. There is your issue.

 

[thx1138v2]

Whatever version of windows 7 you installed you need to buy the same version for the key to work, there is no need to reinstall just type in the new key on the computer.

If there is a sticker on the laptop with the key you can use that one to activate windows, but once again it has to be the same version as what the sticker says it is.

OK, thanks. I'll update here later after acquiring the new CD/key.

 

[thx1138v2]

You can't activate Pro with a Premium product key. There is your issue.

I wasn't doing that. I was trying to activate the Pro OEM install with the Pro OEM product key that came with the CD. I've used the Pro CD with the Pro key before and it activated OK but not this time.

 

[COLGeek]

Is the key you are trying to use now already installed elsewhere? That is what it sounds like. If so, that would explain the issue as well.

 

[thx1138v2]

Whatever version of windows 7 you installed you need to buy the same version for the key to work, there is no need to reinstall just type in the new key on the computer.

If there is a sticker on the laptop with the key you can use that one to activate windows, but once again it has to be the same version as what the sticker says it is.

That worked fine. Thank you.