windows 7 product key that keyfinders find, is not accepted by microsoft.

[tjeulink]

i have a legitimate copy of windows 7, it came factory installed on my asus laptop (so i assume they have a legitimate copy since its them). yet when i use jellybean keyfinder, the key i get isnt allowed to download an windows 7 iso on the website from microsoft. it just says: "Error, your product key could not be validated. try again or contact support." i need this to do a repair installation and an sysprep on another windows 7 installed harddrive from an broken laptop, but that windows 7 installation doesnt recognize the wifi card in my current laptop. both windows are legitimate but i cant actually get the windows 7 key out of the other hardrive without a lot of hassle.

edit: link to windows 7 iso download page: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

 

[ex_bubblehead]

OEM keys do not work on that link, it's for retail customers only. For OEM media you must go to the OEM, in this case ASUS.

 

[bignastyid]

Its an OEM key, you can only download 7 from Microsoft of you have a full retail key.

 

[Wolfshadw]

From the FAQ Page:

My Windows 7 Product Key won't verify. What's the problem?

The most common issue is the use of a product key for a product not currently supported by the site such as an Upgrade key, an MSDN key, product keys for pre-installed media or an Enterprise edition key. For access to MSDN products or Enterprise edition visit the MSDN Portal or the Volume Licensing Service Center. Upgrades and pre-installed media are not currently supported by the tools on the site.

If you believe you have a valid product key and are still receiving an error, please contact Support.

-Wolf sends

Edit: If you do not have the reinstall media that either came with the laptop or could have been created from partition on the laptop, your recourse is to contact the laptop manufacturer for the re-install media.

 

[tjeulink]

ah okay that explains it, i was really confused by the faq and didnt figure that it falls under the preinstalled media bit. i can understand why they did it but it still sucks for end users. i dont understand why they dont make it easy accessible anyway, its not like you can activate it without a product key so why activate a download that you gotta download?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Well, the answers being it *IS* easily accessible. It's one of the first things you're supposed to do when you purchase a laptop (creating the reinstall media).

The OEM users license specifically states the company that installs the OS is responsible to providing support for the system (and OS) and not Microsoft. This is typically because laptop manufacturers will often require tweaking of drivers and windows services in order to keep a laptop within designed thermal and power limitations. If you were to install a plain jane version of Windows from Microsoft onto your laptop, there is a fair chance, that your system would crash/blue-screen until appropriate drivers were installed from the laptop manufacturer.

Why should Microsoft deal with the headaches related to: "I downloaded my OS from Microsoft and now my system crashes every time I boot up!"?

-Wolf sends