Working on this computer I have, something is severely wrong, to the point where a lot of things crash, act whacky, are missing, doesn't come back from sleep, etc. Faster to re-install and copy documents over, that's where I'm at. No discs came with the computer and I pulled the product key from the Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit install that was on there before. I downloaded Win 7 Ultimate 64 and got to the point where I put the key in and it says invalid. I've never been given this kind of hassle for a re-install before. I downloaded "The Ultimate PID Checker" which returns the following information: Profile: NT 6.1 SP1 Validity: Valid Product ID: XXXXX-437-5545277-85916 Edition Type: Ultimate Description: Windows 7 Ultimate Retail Edition ID: X15-38932 Key Type: Retail EULA: Retail Crypto ID: 170 The ISO I used had the SHA-1 of the Digital River Win 7 Ulti 64 ISO. I'm downloading the 32-bit now but I'm not confident that'll do anything. How can I fix this legitimately (assuming the key is legit, which I don't know). Derp, mystery solved, it's an upgrade key.
You just install Windows 7 one time without a key (skip), then immediately do an Upgrade. The key should work for the Upgrade.