Windows Activation Problem

[addictedderzthine]

Hi, i just bought a secondhand Lenovo Laptop which is genuine as said by the seller and i did also download the update to verify if it was truly genuine [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971033] then rebooted my machine and nothing happened so i believe it was truly genuine copy of Windows. The said laptop came with Windows 7 Pro 32Bit then i do a clean install of x64 edition of Windows Pro also then i try to key-in the key I've got from this laptop using Nirsoft Software http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html since the laptop doesn't came with an sticker but sadly i encountered an error with an error code 0xC004E003.

Do you happen to know how to fix this?

 

[SBMfromLA]

You should have asked for the serial key from the seller. I'm not sure... but I'm thinking Windows was originally installed with a Lenovo OEM Version of Windows and you did the reinstall using a retail copy of Windows using an OEM Key... which will NOT work. You need to find a Lenovo OEM version of Windows 7. Once you do that.. the serial key will be automatically generated. You could contact the seller and ask if he has the Lenovo OEM Disk so you can reinstall Windows... if not then you could try contacting Lenovo to request recovery disks... but if the laptop is registered in someone else's name with them.. they may refuse.. One option you do have is to buy a copy of Windows 7.. some retailers, I've seen, have them on selling for cheap.

 

[addictedderzthine]

You should have asked for the serial key from the seller. I'm not sure... but I'm thinking Windows was originally installed with a Lenovo OEM Version of Windows and you did the reinstall using a retail copy of Windows using an OEM Key... which will NOT work. You need to find a Lenovo OEM version of Windows 7. Once you do that.. the serial key will be automatically generated. You could contact the seller and ask if he has the Lenovo OEM Disk so you can reinstall Windows... if not then you could try contacting Lenovo to request recovery disks... but if the laptop is registered in someone else's name with them.. they may refuse.. One option you do have is to buy a copy of Windows 7.. some retailers, I've seen, have them on selling for cheap.

wow.. that should be pain in the ass since i started installing my programs and configure my settings

 

[SBMfromLA]

You should have asked for the serial key from the seller. I'm not sure... but I'm thinking Windows was originally installed with a Lenovo OEM Version of Windows and you did the reinstall using a retail copy of Windows using an OEM Key... which will NOT work. You need to find a Lenovo OEM version of Windows 7. Once you do that.. the serial key will be automatically generated. You could contact the seller and ask if he has the Lenovo OEM Disk so you can reinstall Windows... if not then you could try contacting Lenovo to request recovery disks... but if the laptop is registered in someone else's name with them.. they may refuse.. One option you do have is to buy a copy of Windows 7.. some retailers, I've seen, have them on selling for cheap.

wow.. that should be pain in the ass since i started installing my programs and configure my settings

You did all that even though your new reinstall would not activate?

 

[addictedderzthine]

You should have asked for the serial key from the seller. I'm not sure... but I'm thinking Windows was originally installed with a Lenovo OEM Version of Windows and you did the reinstall using a retail copy of Windows using an OEM Key... which will NOT work. You need to find a Lenovo OEM version of Windows 7. Once you do that.. the serial key will be automatically generated. You could contact the seller and ask if he has the Lenovo OEM Disk so you can reinstall Windows... if not then you could try contacting Lenovo to request recovery disks... but if the laptop is registered in someone else's name with them.. they may refuse.. One option you do have is to buy a copy of Windows 7.. some retailers, I've seen, have them on selling for cheap.

wow.. that should be pain in the ass since i started installing my programs and configure my settings

You did all that even though your new reinstall would not activate?

yeah since i will be out this coming days and i badly need a laptop while im out. I tried to browse lenovo forum and yeah you are right, it wont be activate because i need to order an oem cd from lenovo which isn't for free.

 

[addictedderzthine]

For now, i will just use this OS til it expires then i will try to buy windows 10 rather than buying a windows 7 pro ..

 

[13thmonkey]

It will be that the OEM version was 32bit, and you want to install 64bit. That's all.

 

[addictedderzthine]

It will be that the OEM version was 32bit, and you want to install 64bit. That's all.

Yeah.. but as far as i understand that the product key doesn't completely depend on the architecture 32bit/64bit. As long as the edition is the same then the product key would still work.

 

[SBMfromLA]

It will be that the OEM version was 32bit, and you want to install 64bit. That's all.

Yeah.. but as far as i understand that the product key doesn't completely depend on the architecture 32bit/64bit. As long as the edition is the same then the product key would still work.

But his editions weren't the same... Product Key: OEM from Lenovo.... Windows version was probably Retail downloaded online

 

[13thmonkey]

It will be that the OEM version was 32bit, and you want to install 64bit. That's all.

Yeah.. but as far as i understand that the product key doesn't completely depend on the architecture 32bit/64bit. As long as the edition is the same then the product key would still work.

For first installation yes, but it's recorded on the big MS database as a certain set of hardware @32bit = a key, you can keep on installing 32bit as often as you like, but a change to 64 bit is the same as a mobo change and will fail activation.

 

[SBMfromLA]

It will be that the OEM version was 32bit, and you want to install 64bit. That's all.

Yeah.. but as far as i understand that the product key doesn't completely depend on the architecture 32bit/64bit. As long as the edition is the same then the product key would still work.

For first installation yes, but it's recorded on the big MS database as a certain set of hardware @32bit = a key, you can keep on installing 32bit as often as you like, but a change to 64 bit is the same as a mobo change and will fail activation.

But he's using Windows 7

 

[13thmonkey]

And he is trying to reuse the same key from the 32bit installation with a 64 bit installation. That key is consumed and mapped to 32bit on that hardware.