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My Win 7 key is blocked.

C

CU

Platinum Member
I bought Win 7 on ebay and now after 5 months my key nows says it is blocked. After doing some digging it looks like the product id is from a MSDN account. So, I was scammed. Anyway my question is if I buy an oem copy from newegg can I just change the key or do I have to reinstall? What about keys from technet? I could just join that and get a new key an some other software for not much more. I just don't want to reinstall everything.
 
TechNet is not for 'production' software. You should be able to buy a key from a reputable shop and just change it.
 
Technet is not for production use. If it was every business in the world would just buy a Technet subscription. If you read the EULA, you will find out that it cannot be used in a production environment or a home based business.
 
SunnyD said:
Technet is fine for production use. MSDN keys are not for production use.
Click to expand...

Incorrect, contract says for testing purposes only. They are a bit loose on the desktop OS / Office side (IE they expect certain testers to test it in production for a for about a max of 120 days) but the server apps are most definitely test environment only.
 
Well this will not be for production use. Just using it on my home computer. May try Home Server on an old PC if I get a technet subscription. Just glad I don't have to reinstall.

As a side does anyone know how to contact ebay if it has been longer than 45 days? I don't expect to get my money back, but I would like to let them know. The seller had all positive reviews selling windows software since 07.
 
CU said:
Well this will not be for production use. Just using it on my home computer. May try Home Server on an old PC if I get a technet subscription. Just glad I don't have to reinstall.

As a side does anyone know how to contact ebay if it has been longer than 45 days? I don't expect to get my money back, but I would like to let them know. The seller had all positive reviews selling windows software since 07.
Click to expand...

They are not for home use either. Home is considered 'production.' They specifically disqualify home use in the EULA.
 
CU said:
Well this will not be for production use. Just using it on my home computer. May try Home Server on an old PC if I get a technet subscription. Just glad I don't have to reinstall.

As a side does anyone know how to contact ebay if it has been longer than 45 days? I don't expect to get my money back, but I would like to let them know. The seller had all positive reviews selling windows software since 07.
Click to expand...

FYI, WHS is not on Technet, as far as I know.
 
nerp said:
FYI, WHS is not on Technet, as far as I know.
Click to expand...

miR9U.jpg
 
CU said:
I bought Win 7 on ebay and now after 5 months my key nows says it is blocked. After doing some digging it looks like the product id is from a MSDN account. So, I was scammed. Anyway my question is if I buy an oem copy from newegg can I just change the key or do I have to reinstall? What about keys from technet? I could just join that and get a new key an some other software for not much more. I just don't want to reinstall everything.
Click to expand...

Technet product keys are technically classed as being a form of retail key. I suspect that the same is true of product keys generated from MSDN accounts.

You generally can't use a retail product key to install from OEM media. The opposite is also true - an OEM product key cannot be used to install from retail media.

In your case, you have the equivalent of an OS install from retail media. Thus, an OEM product key will not work with it unless you do a reinstall of the OS from the OEM disc you buy. A Technet key could probably work (as it is a form of retail key), but you run the risk of putting yourself back in the same boat unless you actually purchase a Technet account.

I can tell you from experience Technet is a good deal as long as you use it for what it was intended and don't go giving away or selling keys. I'm not going to get involved in the "allowed" vs "not allowed" debate - I use it for what I use it for, and that is that. Microsoft comes out ahead because the now get a yearly payment from me whereas I only used to send them a little money every 4 or 5 years for an OS upgrade (and it had been awhile considering I skipped Vista). Some people buy an account just to get the product keys and then let it lapse. I keep mine active.

Some folks argue they are loosing out on a sale of their other products to which I have access (like Office, or Windows Home Server, for instance). However, they really aren't because in the past I would never have wasted my money purchasing any of that software when there are good free alternatives like OpenOffice. And, I already have cheap access to MS Office through my employer's Home Use Program agreement anyway if I want it.
 
An oem key not working worries me. I may just get a technet subscription then. I would never sale the keys or anything like that. It would just be for my own machines. The purchase from ebay provided a link to http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/... I assume that it is retail media.
 
CU said:
An oem key not working worries me. I may just get a technet subscription then. I would never sale the keys or anything like that. It would just be for my own machines. The purchase from ebay provided a link to http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/... I assume that it is retail media.
Click to expand...

I know that if I run Microsoft's MGADIAG utility on my machine, the keys generated from Technet read as retail keys. I can't see them doing anything different for MSDN keys (especially given how much more expensive an MSDN account is).

You might want to read this thread for instructions on how to re-apply the key from the command line to make sure your key is actually blacklisted and not just the victim of a random validation failure (which do sometimes happen with Windows 7):

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2062914
 
Well I ended up calling MS to try and activate it by phone, but they could not help and told me to call another number for tech support. The guy checked my key and said it was valid, so he generated another key for me. It didn't work because my install was not an upgrade. He generated another key and it worked fine. I still think I was scammed, but MS fixed the problem with no questions asked. Thanks for all the help.
 
CU said:
I still think I was scammed, but MS fixed the problem with no questions asked.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you were scammed, there's no question about that. Windows is not cheap and not sold as just a key - anyone that offers you just a key for cheap is cheating the system.

On a general long-term note, I'm worried about what Microsoft is going to do to TechNet and MSDN about this. The volume of complaints I've seen on this forum about this specific scam have suddenly become immense - while this scam has existed for some time, it's only with Win7 that it's come to the forefront. MS is going to have to do something about this, and it's probably going to involve screwing over Technet/MSDN users in the process.
 
ViRGE said:
I'm worried about what Microsoft is going to do to TechNet and MSDN about this. The volume of complaints I've seen on this forum about this specific scam have suddenly become immense - while this scam has existed for some time, it's only with Win7 that it's come to the forefront.
Click to expand...
If you look at Microsoft's public "Windows 7 Genuine Advantage Validation Issues" Forum,
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinewindows7/threads
you'll find that a large percentage of Activation problems reported there are now related to MSDN Keys being sold to people on the Internet. In the XP WGA forum, you'd see a lot of blocked Volume License key and BIOS boot loader detections, but those are mostly gone with Windows 7.

ViRGE said:
MS is going to have to do something about this, and it's probably going to involve screwing over Technet/MSDN users in the process.
Click to expand...
MS cracked down on Action Pack subscriptions by prosecuting several cases where people had purchased multiple Action Packs and sold them on eBay. MS also added a test prerequisite and upped the yearly subscription fee.

MSDN is still the most appealing subscription for "selling" because there's no strict limit on how many copies of each program that can be Activated. MSDN licenses are for use by a single person and aren't supposed to be shared even within the same company (like Technet licenses), but the open nature of the licensing makes it near-ideal for (illegal) pofit-making.
 
Last edited:
To clarify the above:

You should never buy just a 'key', however; buying a CoA / Certificate of Authenticity is fine and includes just a key and the cert. I buy this way all the time for work since without media we save a bit on each seat.

While the TechNet keys can't be used for production environments, there is nothing wrong with using the media/discs and a valid key.

Too many people think TechNet is fine for permanent home use. They keep screwing with the licensing on it because of this.
 
You say to never buy just a key. But that is what digital river was selling to students, correct? It was a key and a link to download an iso. Just like I bought a key and a download link from an ebay seller. Although mine was a scam. Did digital river provide some kind of digital CoA?
 
Digital River is a download service. Normally used by students / technet / MSDN. They provide only the ISO's the school /MS would provide the keys / CoA
 
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