» Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:35 pm I told a friend of mine who works in the computer industry about my PC build, and this is what he emailed me:
You can recycle OEM product keys from pre-built laptops, and it works because that copy of Windows is only being used with one hardware signature at a time. It is when there are two different hardware signatures being used with the same key in a short period of time that the key gets flagged.
Now, here is where it gets interesting. If you have NEVER actually typed that product key into the installation of Windows that you are using now, meaning you never reinstalled Windows with an OEM disc and used that key, then that key is NOT currently in use. Yes, this is the truth. Your laptop, because it was sold with Windows, had to be sold to you with a valid Windows Product key. However, when it came to you from the factory, that specific product key was not used. The manufacturer installed Windows on that laptop via cloning the hard drive and using what is called a VOLUME product key. You can check this out yourself with any number of Windows Product Key tools (Jelly Bean, RockXP, ProduKey, etc) that will dig out your current product key. If you downloaded and used one of those tools, you would find that the install of Windows on your pre-built laptop is using a product key that does not match the one on the sticker on the bottom of your laptop.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, if you have NEVER reinstalled Windows on the pre-built laptop, and you did not have to type in the key from the sticker on the bottom of your laptop, then the product key on the bottom of your laptop is not currently in use.
So, download something like ProduKey (http://download.cnet.com/ProduKey/3000-2094_4-10457063.html), and use it to retrieve the current key on your pre-built laptop. Confirm for yourself that it is not the same as the one on the sticker on your laptop.
The other half of this, you CANNOT use a retail Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit disc with that key. It has to be an OEM installation disc. There is a difference. So, you could download an official OEM image from the internet (http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58997.iso), and use that. You don't want a cracked copy of Windows. In fact, there is nothing illegal about downloading an OEM image of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Why? Because it can only be installed legally with a legal key.
Once you have downloaded the image, and you have confirmed that the key on the sticker is not the one in use on your laptop, you are good to go. Just don't screw up your install of Windows on the pre-built laptop. In fact, make SURE you have the recovery discs for it. Otherwise, if you ever have to reinstall Windows on that pre-built laptop, you will be without a key.
As far as the experience you had with ProduKey, the Product ID shown with ProduKey should be the same as the one displayed in your System panel from your Control Panel. The Product ID is not the Product key, and there is no reason for it to be hidden, thus why it is displayed in the open, as it were. The Volume license versus the product key sticker. Different every time.
Nothing I have said advocates piracy in any way. I have simply stated that one does not need throw away a perfectly good product key for Windows , just because they stop using that particular computer. That is not piracy. Piracy is not paying for a product that you use. You paid for that copy of Windows, and you can use it on any computer you want, as long as you are only using it on one computer at a time. Again, this is not Piracy. Not even close.
Now, here is where it gets interesting. If you have NEVER actually typed that product key into the installation of Windows that you are using now, meaning you never reinstalled Windows with an OEM disc and used that key, then that key is NOT currently in use. Yes, this is the truth. Your laptop, because it was sold with Windows, had to be sold to you with a valid Windows Product key. However, when it came to you from the factory, that specific product key was not used. The manufacturer installed Windows on that laptop via cloning the hard drive and using what is called a VOLUME product key. You can check this out yourself with any number of Windows Product Key tools (Jelly Bean, RockXP, ProduKey, etc) that will dig out your current product key. If you downloaded and used one of those tools, you would find that the install of Windows on your pre-built laptop is using a product key that does not match the one on the sticker on the bottom of your laptop.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, if you have NEVER reinstalled Windows on the pre-built laptop, and you did not have to type in the key from the sticker on the bottom of your laptop, then the product key on the bottom of your laptop is not currently in use.
So, download something like ProduKey (http://download.cnet.com/ProduKey/3000-2094_4-10457063.html), and use it to retrieve the current key on your pre-built laptop. Confirm for yourself that it is not the same as the one on the sticker on your laptop.
The other half of this, you CANNOT use a retail Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit disc with that key. It has to be an OEM installation disc. There is a difference. So, you could download an official OEM image from the internet (http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58997.iso), and use that. You don't want a cracked copy of Windows. In fact, there is nothing illegal about downloading an OEM image of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Why? Because it can only be installed legally with a legal key.
Once you have downloaded the image, and you have confirmed that the key on the sticker is not the one in use on your laptop, you are good to go. Just don't screw up your install of Windows on the pre-built laptop. In fact, make SURE you have the recovery discs for it. Otherwise, if you ever have to reinstall Windows on that pre-built laptop, you will be without a key.
As far as the experience you had with ProduKey, the Product ID shown with ProduKey should be the same as the one displayed in your System panel from your Control Panel. The Product ID is not the Product key, and there is no reason for it to be hidden, thus why it is displayed in the open, as it were. The Volume license versus the product key sticker. Different every time.
Nothing I have said advocates piracy in any way. I have simply stated that one does not need throw away a perfectly good product key for Windows , just because they stop using that particular computer. That is not piracy. Piracy is not paying for a product that you use. You paid for that copy of Windows, and you can use it on any computer you want, as long as you are only using it on one computer at a time. Again, this is not Piracy. Not even close.
