What happens to a Windows7 license when a faulty new laptop is replaced?

Avoriaz

If my almost new Windows7 laptop is replaced rather than repaired because of a hardware fault, will I be able to use the existing Windows7 license?




I bought a new Acer laptop a few weeks ago with Windows7. The laptop was supplied with a 500gb disk. I removed that disk, put in a 320gb disk and installed Windows7 on that. I chose automatic verification and this has been done so my Windows7 license is linked to that laptop.

I then wiped the 500gb disk for use in an external caddy, thus deleting the other copy of Windows7.

The laptop has developed a hardware fault, (nothing to do with me swapping the disks) and the supplier, SimplyAcer, are sending me a replacement laptop. I refused a repair on a brand new laptop costing £700 and, (well done SimplyAcer), they didn't argue and agreed to send a brand new machine.

I removed my 320gb disk, put the original 500gb disk back in, installed Windows7 on that and sent it back to SimplyAcer.

What happens to the original Windows7 license? Will I be able to use it or transfer it to the new machine?

SimplyAcer say they will send me a new copy of Windows7 to use on the new machine and I should return the original copy? That is all very well but it means that I have to start from scratch again.

I want to put my 320gb disk in the replacement laptop rather than have to start from scratch and install everything again. I spent a long time installing software and tuning the system to suit me. I really don't want to have to start again. I want to carry on with my original Windows7 installation and license.

Can I do this or must I start again with the new Windows7 license?

If I phone or email Microsoft and explain the situation, will they allow me to transfer the license?

I suppose I also need to tell SimplyAcer to wipe or relicense the Windows7 installation on the returned 500gb disk inside the faulty laptop.

I'm not trying to cheat Microsoft or SimplyAcer and sneakily get 2 Windows7 licenses. I am quite happy not to get a second copy of it.

Thanks

RobertoMoir

Is this a copy of windows that came with the laptop or one that you purchased subsequently?

If it came with the laptop, it's most likely an "OEM" licence. An OEM licence is tied to the computer it is activated on, and it dies with the computer its"associated" with. End of.

If it's one you purchased and installed separately, and hopefully is NOT an OEM licence, then if it won't activate automatically a simple phonecall to the Microsoft activation hotline on the number given when the automatic activation fails should take care of things...

If you purchased an OEM licence then you're probably out of luck. Sorry about that but this is one of the reasons they are comparatively cheaper than the alternatives.

RobTang

You dont need to re-install actually, when you plug the hdd into your newer laptop it will eventually ask to be re-validated, you can change the licence key at this point to your newer one.

bob_man_uk

robs hit the nail on the head, it should just ask you to reactivate it will go to microsoft and check that the hardware of your current machine matches the one that you registered, thats if it even asks, if they swap it like for like then there should be no issues whatsoever.

and even if there is say you have a constant bsod and stuck in a reboot loop, just because its activated doesnt mean you cant activate it again, if you bought a retail copy then that licence is yours to move around as you need to, you just need to call up microsoft activation (its all automated dont worry) it asks you to give it the long key on the screen, asks you how many machines is it installed on, if you say just one then it will give you the activation key and you'll never have to call them again.

just fyi if you do use the key twice i think theres a microsoft update that changes the activation program to check every 90 days so the last activated machine would work but the other machine would end up being asked to activate again.

Avoriaz

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Is this a copy of windows that came with the laptop or one that you purchased subsequently?..

It is an OEM license purchased from Acer, via SimplyAcer, with the Acer laptop.

Avoriaz

RobTang wrote: »

You dont need to re-install actually, when you plug the hdd into your newer laptop it will eventually ask to be re-validated, you can change the licence key at this point to your newer one.

Thanks Rob, that is good news.

That will suit be fine.

JasX

If the replacement laptop is identical hardware to the original install it might not even notice its been switched, a few of the hardware change flags will have been tripped (eg CPU serial number) but enough should be intact not to need it.

If the hardware is markedly different you'd be crazy to just pop the hard drive in from the other machine as all the hardware drivers would not match the machines physical hardware and the machine would be horribly inefficient and some things would likely not work at all. Reinstalling from scratch would be essential if you didn;t want to be stuck with a complete lemon of a machine

spud17

You can easily change the key in Win7 at any time.

Control Panel then System, at the bottom is Windows Activation with 'Change Product Key'.

Could you not, fit the HD you want, then change the key to the replacement one that comes with the new disk.

Avoriaz

JasX, the replacement will be identical.

Spud, thanks, I will do that.

JasX

Avoriaz wrote: »

JasX, the replacement will be identical.

You should find most of the activation "hardware change/id" flags are intact then, assuming its similar to the xp hardware hash this is what it checks for: (see below)
if the majority of those have not changed (eg RAM size, hard drive serial no, CD drive type, graphics card type etc etc) you might not need to reactivate at all.

If you do need a reactivation it'll probably work fine automatically anyway but worst case you might need a quick phone call to microsoft's activation line to explain but since you are properly licensed have nothing really to worry about there either

double word | offset | length | bit-field value based on

---

+

---

+

---

+

---

H1 | 0 | 10 | volume serial number string | | | of system volume
H1 | 10 | 10 | network adapter MAC address | | | string
H1 | 20 | 7 | CD-ROM drive hardware | | | identification string
H1 | 27 | 5 | graphics adapter hardware | | | identification string
H2 | 0 | 3 | unused, set to 001
H2 | 3 | 6 | CPU serial number string
H2 | 9 | 7 | harddrive hardware | | | identification string
H2 | 16 | 5 | SCSI host adapter hardware | | | identification string
H2 | 21 | 4 | IDE controller hardware | | | identification string
H2 | 25 | 3 | processor model string
H2 | 28 | 3 | RAM size
H2 | 31 | 1 | 1 = dockable | | | 0 = not dockable

http://www.licenturion.com/xp/fully-licensed-wpa.txt