I have a couple of installations from "retail" discs , that have activated just fine with an OEM key and cert , My machines have modded bios though .but I was allways under the impression that the only difference between OEM and Retail discs was the activation method. last year I biult a PC for a friend and he purchased the full version of windows 7 home premium. I installed it for him using the Key .and made copies (iso) from both discs ,I have installed them using OEM key/cert On my own PCs.
Is it really necessary to enter a product key? Or is it just personal choice? I have an actual Windows 7 ultimate x64 disc that one of my friends bought as part of a bundle of PC parts to make a computer,it came with a product key,but instead of putting it in,i activated with Daz loader,also,the op didn't mention if their bios was modded or not?? very confusing
Well, I built my own PC. It isn't an Acer, Dell, HP, etc. Here is what I have inside: An Apollo NZXT Mid Tower case with a side window, an AMD AM3 1100T Phenom 2 x6 Thuban 3.3 GHz CPU Black Edition, an OCZ 600 watt PSU StealthXstream, 1 TB Seagate internal 3.5 inch Hard Drive, an HIS 4670 ATI Radeon HD PCIe x16 2.0 1 GB GDDR something video graphics card, 2 2gig sticks of Corsair RAM 1333 MHz DDR3 and 2 2gig sticks of Mushkin Silverline RAM 1333 MHz DDR3 , an LG Super Multi Blu-Ray Burner and a Samsung DVD/CD Burner and 3 case fans which are 120x120x25 each one. I have a Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit oem that I bought from newegg when Windows 7 first came out. I recently had downloaded a 64 bit retail Windows 7 Ultimate from digitalriver and it has the SP1 integrated. I was just hoping to use the 32 bit oem product key that I bought with this 64 bit retail to save money and put it to use instead of buying a retail which is like 240$. I figure why buy a new one when I can just use what I already have? I think it'll work. i mean, aren't they the same regardless? The difference is support or whatever from Microsoft, right? I don't know. then again, I don't want to blacklist my own key even though it is legit. I just wanted someone to help me out with advice or something because I can't really afford to buy another and trilogy is ok but, it won't last...I have 2 more rearms and that's it. Sorry to trouble you all about this question but, I hear different things about this so I just want to know the truth from people that are very knowledgeable in these things and this place is where I'll find that information. I don't want to call Microsoft and ask them personally...I don't want to get in any trouble with them. They most likely will think otherwise when that is not the case. I also have no idea what the Cert and SLIC is and I have no idea what they are and I'm lost on those things and I have no idea how or where to find them.
You know what? i just realized something here that I had used this oem Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit product key on an earlier installation on a another computer I had built but, I had uninstalled it and wiped it out of that hard drive. That hard drive is unformatted. I haven't used this Windows 7 ultimate 32 bit oem either since those days and it's been a while...over a year. Is it still possible that I am able to use it on this 64 bit retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate? They product key is legit and Microsoft shouldn't get crazy with me about. I still think they're the same, but I don't know, I hear once it is used on one machine, it stays with that machine 4 ever...even if it has been uninstalled and wiped clean from the hard drive that it was installed on which I am not using. I am using a different hard drive. The other machine that it was installed on had a Biostar motherboard, 2 sticks of RAM at 2 gigs each, a 900 watt PSU, an ATI HD Radeon 4670 video card XFX, 1 TB Seagate Hard drive(I have 2 of these hard drives and I only used 1 for this oem. The one I am using now is not the same one...my guess is a different hard drive serial number but the same model), Lite-On blu ray burner and DVD/CD Samsung burner, an AMD AM3 3.4 GHz Black Edition CPU Phenom 2 x4. All of my computers I have built from the ground up. I have one Toshiba laptop and it's an 18.4 inch HD monster, that thing is huge man...that's why I bought it. The computer now that I want to use this key on has different stuff like I stated earlier and it has a Gigabyte motherboard - the GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3. Damn, I made this more problematic than ever. Sorry, I forgot about that I had used different parts for this oem. I completely overlooked this. I'm really sorry.
My understanding is Microsoft only keeps the activation for 120 days. So as long as it is only on 1 machine it will always work. If you would try it within the 120 days on another machine is when you would run into problems. Anyone????
Cool, Thanks peeps. I had no idea that it would be 120 days on the original computer. I can tell you that it has been way more than 120 days that the oem has been in there but, also, after those 120 days, I have removed it and never used it since. I'll try what you guys say and hope for a miracle. I'll also do the phone activation if all else fails and just keep it limited in details. Thanks again for the support.
Success! Yay!! It worked without a hitch like you said! I just typed in the key and it activated after a few minutes, well, more like 2 minutes...or less really. Wow. Thank you so much again. Again WOW...and I thought I would have to whore myself to all the sexy, single women out there to make a few hundred bucks to buy a new copy. Deuce Bigalo eat your heart out, the Spanish Gigalo is here, baby. haha...thats funny...Woohoo!