Is my OEM version of Windows 7 genuine?

NiftyDigits

earthstorm wrote: »

No need for clean install if he gets a genuine key as you can just add this, but a genuine win 7 key is going to cost over £100, so i agree to return it as not as described

There will be a need for a clean install regardless.

NiftyDigits

gterr wrote: »

(Your mailbox is full, Nifty)


http://postimg.org/image/6nytcgvhx

http://s18.postimg.org/58x8nquex/screenshot2.png

Any chance of getting your money back? If not, we can fix it, but it's a load of unnecessary hassle.
How much did you pay?

gterr

I have two of them. I paid £60 each - largely because they claimed to have Win 7 installed.

Jivesinger

earthstorm wrote: »

No need for clean install if he gets a genuine key as you can just add this, but a genuine win 7 key is going to cost over £100, so i agree to return it as not as described

Genuine Windows 8 Upgrade (which I think is valid as the PC has a Vista licence, and the same upgrade covers XP, Vista and 7) is a fair bit cheaper if the OP was doing a clean install anyway. Seems to be less than £60 on Amazon at the moment.

(Assuming no chance of getting money back, which would be even better.)

NiftyDigits

gterr wrote: »

I have two of them. I paid £60 each - largely because they claimed to have Win 7 installed.

So, what would you like to do, return or fix?

They'll need more RAM too 1 GB modules here for £6.50

gterr

Thanks for your help!

What's involved in a fix, and how much would it cost.

And just for the record - what's likely to happen if I do nothing??

HappyMJ

gterr wrote: »

Thanks for your help!

What's involved in a fix, and how much would it cost.

And just for the record - what's likely to happen if I do nothing??

The post has been edited a RAM upgrade doesn't cost much...

Not much....it may stop working at some point in the future. You can use windows 7 on a trial for a period of time before it insists on a key. Your copy may have been a genuine install but it's hard to tell without a COA.

Jivesinger

Incidentally I have just been looking at a laptop which has no COA sticker... and is running a different version of Windows to the one which it was built for... and is totally legit because it's my work laptop and I know my organisation will be licensed to put on a corporate build.

Since the OP's laptop is running Windows 7 Professional, which I think is the business-oriented version, and is a Latitude which is the more business-oriented Dell range, my guess is these are corporate PCs which were installed with Windows 7 on a perfectly legitimate basis and have been sold off.

(Unless the info in Nifty's PM says different.)

Having said that, even if this is true, I'm not sure whether the corporate Win7 licence is still valid when sold on.

NiftyDigits

2 x 1GB RAM DDR2 SoDIMM modules £11.99

Won't cost anything to fix in this case, as you bought them in good faith.

First stage is to reinstall Windows, but you'll need an optical drive capable of burning to DVD(and a couple of blank DVD media) or a USB thumb drive with a capacity of at least 4GB.

NiftyDigits

HappyMJ wrote: »

The post has been edited a RAM upgrade doesn't cost much...

Not much....it may stop working at some point in the future. You can use windows 7 on a trial for a period of time before it insists on a key. Your copy may have been a genuine install but it's hard to tell without a COA.

It isn't hard to tell and it isn't a genuine install.