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Will the windows 7 upgrade invalidate my windows vista key?

Started by Sterling14 , Jul 04 2009 06:11 PM

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3 replies to this topic

#1 Sterling14

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Posted 04 July 2009 - 06:11 PM

I have a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, and I recently preordered the Windows 7 home upgrade. I have Vista installed on my computer now, but I'm wondering if the upgrade to 7 will make my product key invalid for it? Will Microsoft give me a hard time if I have to call them to get a new code if I wanted to install Vista on a system again? What about if I did a clean install of it? Thanks!

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#2 78651214

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Posted 05 July 2009 - 03:57 AM

Sterling14: Your Vista key will not become invalid.

LOTWHUT: Changing HARD DRIVE doesn't matter, in fact changing whole PC configuration doesn't matter as long as the version is used on ONE PC only. i.e. if you are going to change PC, remove it totally from old and install it on new PC. The activation will not happen automatically in such a case, but a call to Microsoft will solve activation problem if any.

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#3 78651214

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Posted 05 July 2009 - 02:13 PM

^ Calling Microsoft solves the problem =). The key is not wasted by hardware change my friend.

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php

and

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/e...eb48b51033.mspx

How many times can I install Windows on my computer before I have to activate Windows again?

You can reinstall Windows on the same computer as many times as you want because activation pairs the Windows product key with information about your computer hardware. If you make a significant hardware change, you might have to activate Windows again.

---

Will I ever need to activate my current copy of Windows again?

Maybe. You might have to activate Windows again if:
•

You uninstall Windows on one computer and install it on another. During installation, enter the product key that came with your copy of Windows. If automatic activation fails, follow the instructions that walk you through activating Windows by phone. You will have 30 days to activate your copy of Windows.
•

You make a significant hardware change to your computer, such as upgrading the hard disk and memory at the same time. If a major hardware change requires activating Windows again, you will be notified and will have three days to activate your copy of Windows.
•

You reformat your hard disk. Reformatting erases your activation status. In this case, you’ll have 30 days to activate Windows again.
•

A virus infects your computer and deletes your activation status.

So the same can be activated again and again as long as it's used just on ONE system.