cant activate windows 7

mufc802 · 4 Jan 2010 at 12:27

FFS it wont activate, so I try ringing the number and the machine says my installation id is invalid, so put through to a person who keeps hanging up as I read out the installation id, stupid micro$soft. :mad:

I have done a few system restores and this time it wont activate, so not sure what I can do. :confused:

Edit: I do have a spare copy but I think this takes the pi** as I paid £80 for it.

Edit 2: The woman hung up twice lol, but the man was very helpful and I've got it activated.!!

If anyone reads this, I have a final question, how many times can you re-format and re-install windows 7 before it stops activating? Is there a special way you should uninstall it first?

swinnie · 4 Jan 2010 at 13:34

Yateszy said:
If anyone reads this, I have a final question, how many times can you re-format and re-install windows 7 before it stops activating? Is there a special way you should uninstall it first?

There are no limits to how many times you can reinstall your copy of Windows. The limitations are the types of licences - i.e. OEM, Retail or Retail Upgrade.

OEM - One installation, tied to the motherboard you first install and activate.

Retail - One current installation, can be installed on multiple motherboards, however, only one installation is permitted.

Hope this helps.

Burnsy2023 · 4 Jan 2010 at 13:38

Where did you get your copy of Windows 7 from and what type is it?

mufc802 · 4 Jan 2010 at 13:56

It's full retail from somewhere I'm not allowed to say, boxed version Home Premium.

What I thought was how would Microsoft know if you installed it on one or more machines? I re-formatted but it wouldn't activate, so I phoned the number and they gave me a confirmation code to activate it.

Burnsy2023 · 4 Jan 2010 at 14:16

In which case try the phone again.

welshdragon · 4 Jan 2010 at 19:19

I ahd a similiar problem. Bought a full retail windows 7 pro and installed it fine. Built a full new rig and on installing windows 7 on that, albeit moving fomr 32 to 64 bit it would not activate. I resolved the problem by phoning the freephone number and entering the numbers on the screen. It then gave me a number which i entered and it activated fine.

Also, when I did speak to them on the phone the kept transfering me in an endless loop hahahaha

mufc802 · 4 Jan 2010 at 20:20

The problem I had was I entered the id they ask for on the phone, then they say press 1 if you installed it on 1 machine, or press 2 if you installed it on more than 1 machine, and I foolishly pressed 2, thus having to speak to an agent who told me the code.