Windows 7 activation issue

[slag]

A few years back when Windows 7 came out, I bought two of the Windows Home Premium 3 pack upgrade disks for use on 6 total PCs.

I have 5 pcs in my house, but, over the years, due to virus issues, hard drive failures, etc, have had to reinstall the software.

Fast forward to tonight. I bought a new hard drive to replace one that had developed bad sectors. It was my os drive on my media center. I reinstalled Windows 7 (the upgrade), but of course can't activate it. I called into MS to see how I'm supposed to activate this because originally I had upgraded XP to Windows 7, but with a bad hard drive, I can't do that anymore. They told me for both of my keys, I had activated well beyond the limit. 5 on one and 8 on the other. I countered with the statement that I only have 5 pcs, but sure, I've activated it numerous times on the same PC for various issues. Besides, the box and disc say its for use on up to 3 pcs per license, not 3 activations.

At any rate, MS can't help me and I'm hosed as I cannot activate this install even though I own the software and originally had XP on my OS disc. I wasted over an hour talking to people who did not have English as their primary language and who were hard to understand and not helpful at all.

How do I fix this install so I can activate it? I've patched everything already but should I just perform another install over the top of what I have or will that even work? Is there a workaround for special instances like what I have? I don't even think I have the XP CD anymore since it is EOL.

 

[HOSED]

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...s-7-home-premium-upgrade?forum=w7itproinstall
Have you already tried this? I recently had a go with MS phone support also so I do feel your pain
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...e-laptop/348a1319-2eeb-4723-b4b5-4fd23b6ff7e7

 

[VirtualLarry]

A few years back when Windows 7 came out, I bought two of the Windows Home Premium 3 pack upgrade disks for use on 6 total PCs.

I have 5 pcs in my house, but, over the years, due to virus issues, hard drive failures, etc, have had to reinstall the software.

Fast forward to tonight. I bought a new hard drive to replace one that had developed bad sectors. It was my os drive on my media center. I reinstalled Windows 7 (the upgrade), but of course can't activate it. I called into MS to see how I'm supposed to activate this because originally I had upgraded XP to Windows 7, but with a bad hard drive, I can't do that anymore. They told me for both of my keys, I had activated well beyond the limit. 5 on one and 8 on the other. I countered with the statement that I only have 5 pcs, but sure, I've activated it numerous times on the same PC for various issues. Besides, the box and disc say its for use on up to 3 pcs per license, not 3 activations.

open regedit, search for "MediaBootInstall", change from 1 to 0, close regedit.
open an elevated command prompt, type "slmgr /rearm".
reboot

Now your install will take an upgrade key.

But personally, I think that's total BS that they say 5 and 8 activations is too much. The family packs are retail licenses, and can be moved between machines. If you still have your receipts for the software, take them to small claims court. Be a thorn in their side.

 

[bruceb]

Number of activations used should not matter, as long as they are not all activated at the same time. One per activation code. And I would tell MS phone rep, that the hard drive died and needed replacement, hence the need to reactivate. As long as you are not trying to use it on more than 1 computer at a time, you should be fine. As to deactivating, well if the hard drive or motherboard died, then you can't do a deactivation.

 

[slag]

Number of activations used should not matter, as long as they are not all activated at the same time. One per activation code. And I would tell MS phone rep, that the hard drive died and needed replacement, hence the need to reactivate. As long as you are not trying to use it on more than 1 computer at a time, you should be fine. As to deactivating, well if the hard drive or motherboard died, then you can't do a deactivation.

Bruce,

That's exactly what I told the 2 different MS people I talked to. And its 3 computers per code since its a family 3 pack. Unlimited activations, but only 3 computers. I told the MS reps about the hard drive failure and they didn't care. I was able to use Virtual Larry's method above and get it working last night.

 

[slag]

open regedit, search for "MediaBootInstall", change from 1 to 0, close regedit.
open an elevated command prompt, type "slmgr /rearm".
reboot

Now your install will take an upgrade key.

But personally, I think that's total BS that they say 5 and 8 activations is too much. The family packs are retail licenses, and can be moved between machines. If you still have your receipts for the software, take them to small claims court. Be a thorn in their side.

Thanks,

Worked like a charm!!