Problems Activating Windows.

I am trying to reinstall Windows 7 on my friends laptop. The problem I am running into is that activation will not work. I tried to use ABR Beta and it only backed up the key and not the certificate so it gave me an error and wouldn't work. Now when I try to put in the license key from the text file, Windows says "The windows 7 home premium product key you typed is invalid for activation". It doesn't give me an option for phone activation or anything. What can I do here?

 

Did you install the exact version that it is licensed for? The actual windows sticker key might be under the battery compartment.

 

This.

Key finder programs are useful, but it may have given you the wrong key. There is a key that's defaulted to and can be located within the registry, but the key that's manually entered and activated is different. You may have gotten the former from the product key finder - or may have accidentally written it down wrong.

 

It is the same version that the laptop came with. Home premium x64. the laptop defaulted to a serial code with OEM in it, which Im assuming is the default code. The key code in the ABR text file is a full serial code and it is what I am trying to enter.

 

Did you format the recovery partition?

 

Yes I did. Is that a problem?

 

You cannot use that product key. It will never ever ever work. The OEM mass installs the OS on all of their laptops with a stock Windows image all using that same exact product key. This product key is not valid for activating Windows. From the factory, the OS has no idea what product key is the one designated for that laptop. If you want to reinstall the OS, you MUST use the product key located on the certificate of authenticity on the bottom of the laptop. If there is no COA, you need to find or buy a new Windows product key for your chosen install.

 

Is there no COA sticker on the laptop with a key? Typically it's on the bottom, sometimes they put it under the battery.

That sticker will also say which version it's for.

 

It looks like I'll have to buy a new code then because there is a COA sticker on bottom but due to rubbing and heat the code is not visible anymore. That's lame

 

You could try contacting the laptop's manufacturer, maybe they can send you restore discs that have the activation in them and that would be cheaper than buying a new license.

 

Unless there is a SLIC lock, as long as the code you wrote down matches what is on the COA (even though you can't read it), and the version you're attempting to install matches the COA, then there shouldn't be an issue. Even with a SLIC/BIOS lock, if your key matches what's embedded, it should be capable of being activated.

Contact the manufacturer and give them information on the laptop, and they may be able to tell you what key was provided. Then if necessary, you can contact Microsoft and give them that key to have it validated.

 

If you contact the maker of your computer, and you are very genuine and honest with them, there is a more-than-decent chance they will simply give you a new key.

 

Looks like I will be calling HP tomorrow then. Hopefully they give me a new key. Thanks for all the input everyone!

 

You don't understand. If he never reinstalled windows on that laptop before, the product key in Windows will not match the product key on the bottom of the laptop. The product key on the bottom of the laptop was never used. All the laptops leaving that manufacturer using the same version of the OS have the same product key in Windows, and this product key cannot be used to activate Windows.

 

What is your source on this?

@ Rezabrya: I don't think they will give away a new key. They will simply reaffirm you are a customer with a valid COA and reiterate the key provided on your unit (maybe; I'm not sure how HP's customer service is).

 

*I think I understand what Qing Dao is alluding to now. In order to use that key provided on the COA sticker, you MUST use an OEM disc for the OS installation. Using a retail copy of the same version and edition of Windows will be moot, as would using a corporate version of the disc for a OEM product key. Version and edition aside, there are also specific install discs, so in order to re-install Windows, you must ensure that:

The version (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, etc.) matches the version on the COA sticker.
The edition matches (Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, etc.) as well as whether it's 32-bit or 64-bit.
The disc matches your build; e.g., OEM disc for OEM COA/license. If you had built your own system, for example, then there is no OEM; therefore, you could use, say, a retail copy of a Windows install disc.

 

Reinstalling Windows and dealing with issues like this for the past eleven years since Windows XP was released and required activation.

When you buy a new laptop with Windows already installed and activated, it is just an image that the manufacturer copied onto all of their hard disks. They have a few images, of different OS versions and optional software. So they install the OS and added software on one hard drive, and then clone that drive thousands of times. This is the most economical way of doing things, by a long shot. So all these computers leave the factory with the same product key in the software, but with COA's affixed to the bottom with unique product keys. The product key in the OS cannot be used by end users to reinstall Windows. If it could, nobody would ever need to buy another Windows license because these keys could be used limitless times.

This is pretty easy to check. You can run software to check the product key in any OS that hasn't been reinstalled since it left the factory and see that it differs from the COA on the bottom. Also if you want, you can find all of these product keys online and compare them to the one you found, or you can compare two laptops from the same manufacturer and running the same OS version. The keys will match.

But these pre-activated keys that you can't use to install the OS yourself are also the basis of many Windows activation cracks.

32 and 64 bit keys might be differentiated on the COA, but a 32 bit key can activate a 64 bit OS and vice-versa.

 

With XP this was true, I don't know about Vista. With Windows 7 I have activated the Digital River images against Lenovos and Dells with the COA keys, and with Windows 8 I have activated the MSDN version against Lenovos with a Win8 COA burned in (OA 3.0).

 

Yeah, with XP there were retail and generic OEM keys which would work with the normal install discs on any computer, and then there were the OEM product keys tied to specific vendors. These would only work on the vendor version of the install disc, and that disc would only install Windows on a computer of that vendor. I'm not sure when they started and when they stopped, and which vendors they did it for, because I had a Compaq that had a generic OEM key and not a vendor-specific one. It was bought as soon as XP was released in the fall of '01. I don't remember if that was still the case with Vista, but I know they got rid of that by the time 7 rolled around.