How many pc's can I activate Win 7?

I have activated a windows 7 key on my own laptop and wondering if I can let someone else install and activate it on there's too?
And how many times can I activate it on my own laptop?

 

Nope.

As many times as you want.

 

You can activate a copy of Windows any number of times you want if you clean install on the same computer.

Now, there are restrictions as to whether you can do so on another computer depending on the version of Windows. Note that activation is tied to the key and not the installation media. You can use the same windows disc on any number of computers provided you have a valid key.

If you have an OEM license (the one that comes preinstalled on computers or that you can buy for cheaper than the retail version). It should only activate on a given hardware platform. It is technically tied to some hardware components and shouldn't activate on another computer. You're tied to only one computer per the EULA anyways. I've seen instances where changing the motherboard on a desktop caused it to no longer activate and instances where it still worked.

Retail copy: you have two versions of those, the single install which can only be installed on one computer at a time, but can be transfered and reactivated on any new computer and you have the multiple license versions that allows to install on up to x PC.

If you installed an OEM version on your laptop, you shouldn't install Windows on another computer and activate it with the same key, if the key is already in use on another computer. There is no guarantee that it'll work and you shouldn't be doing so anyways.

 

I bought mine from someone else who didn't need it he said. And fortunately activation worked for me. But now I have given it someone else for a time being, not sure how it is doing for him. When I get it back I need to format my drive and re install widows 7 with it, I hope it works. I should not have given it away!

 

This should always activate, although you might have to call Microsoft and explain the situation. Even OEM licenses allow for replacement of failed motherboards.

If you were talking only about online activation on the other hand, then the situation is indeed much more confusing.

 

Well, it should always activate if it's the same motherboard, but replacing the motherboard for a newer model with a new CPU sometimes behave weirdly. That said, yes, calling usually fixes it. I was mostly talking about online activation.

At Hawx79. Use the code on windows sticker on the laptop to activate and there shouldn't be any problems at all.

 

I once had online activation fail under those circumstances back when I replaced a mobo during the Sandy Bridge chipset recall, so even same motherboard is no guarantee of success

 

What usually happens there is that all the hardware can change resource settings. The computer then sees this huge change and refuses to activate. I once had to reset the cmos tables on my old Everex laptop and this caused the activation failure. A simple call, as stated, fixed the issue.

 

Just download the free ABR program, it will backup your notebooks pre-activated key, and then after you do a clean install of windows you run the ABR restore function to get the key re-installed.

Now you can do a clean install of windows every day if you want, without windows on-line activation spitting it`s dummy out, and forcing you to ring them up so you can explain why you are activating windows so often.

ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) | directedge.us

John.

 

You can only activate on one machine at a time ...

 

That's the one true statement here M$ will catch up to your multiple install of one license and your license will get blacklisted so don't think for a moment M$ will not catch up. Never say never to M$ when it comes to licenses especially with Windows 7 License.

 

Well if all five machines are the same and originally windows 7 then the OEM key may be the same for all machines especially if you have SLIC 2.1. Even some of the licensing key could be real close.

 

From my test that is the limit of the license anymore and it gets blacklisted....

 

Motherboard is the only component that should trigger immediate activation. There was a list how different components were weighted, how many could be changed at once before windows wants to activate again. Altough I couldn't find it now

Even then phone activation should work, altough few times I've even had to talk to a real person there. eek.

Laptops (and big brand desktops) don't care about that as much since the OEM activation works differently if the original installation is used and replacement mobo is same as the original one.

If it's OEM offline activation then all the computers of same brand and same windows use the same key. Millions of windows 7 computers around the world, bit more than 5

 

I've not seen every computer in the world so I was hesitant to make the same claim of all keys being the same as you never know. But again then to the OP there may not be a need to purchase licenses as they may already be there.

 

Different MAC address. One of the cornerstones of linking the key to the activated copy.

 

(extremely simplified explanation)

With Win7-style OEM activations, the OEM BIOS has a flag set that says "I'm a {brand} and I know what Windows 7 is." The Windows 7 installation medium has a certificate file that checks against this flag. If the certificate is happy with the flag, a random yet valid key is generated on the spot just so the install 'has a key' but is taken at full value as authentic and Windows will happily activate against it. Note that this key is unlikely to be the one on the COA label.

It's actually easy to duplicate this process manually. The recovery partition of an OEM laptop has the certificate file, and it only takes two commands to force the check and activation. I use it at work as part of my imaging and deployments.

(there's a little more to it than that, I am intentionally obfuscating some of the process)

 

I remember on Windows 7 I installed with the same key on two computers. It made the first require reactivation, which then required the second to be reactivated, and so on. Only one was able to be activated at a time so I bought another key. This was Windows 7 Pro OEM that I bought from microsoft.com with a student discount.