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Windows 7 Key To Different Machine?

MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered User regular
in Help / Advice Forum
So I've got a Windows 7 (everything is x64) laptop, a 6yr old XP desktop, and two Window 8 keys. The Win7 was originally an OEM, but after contacting Microsoft, they gave me a new key. I have both a Windows 7 and a Windows 8 disc.

What I had planned to do was install Win8 on the desktop, but I think the processor is incompatible - it's a Pentium 5 Presler. I added some RAM so no problem there.

So my next option is to "upgrade" the laptop to Win8, and transfer the licence to the desktop, installing Win7 there. Is this possible? Is there a certain order I need to do it in? I want to stay legal and don't want anything getting flagged down the line as not-genuine so putting Win7 on both is sadly out.

Posts

  • Bendery It Like BeckhamBendery It Like Beckham Hopeless Registered User regular
    No, an OEM key won't activate using normal install means on the desktop. The install media for the laptop should not allow it to be installed on the desktop as well. Most OEM keys you get from MFG are tattooed to the mobo. If the key MS gave you is for a non-oem version you can install windows 7 using stand alone install media, but that's not 100% guaranteed to work.

  • Great ScottGreat Scott King of Wishful Thinking Paragon City, RIRegistered User regular
    edited December 2012
    MichaelLC, I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to say, but Windows 8 is available for x86 (32-bit), even if the x64 media won't work. That said, per this info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_D) Presler is fully x64 capable.

    As far as non-Genuine, that's a function of the Windows key. Officially, OEM licenses are supposed to expire with the computer (hardware), but a simple call to licensing support should re-authorize it - hardware fails all the time, and as long as you're not installing the Win7 code on a completely different computer (or two at once) a re-install is perfectly legal.

    You have two Win8 licenses so why would you need to transfer them? Even if you do, the Upgrade license should allow for moves and re-installs. All MS cares about is that Win8 was activated (not many times in a row) with a key. They won't know and don't care which license is applied to which machine.

    Keep in mind that although your Win8 licenses void your Win7 licenses (Once Activated), you still have legal codes and media, so at bare minimum, following all the rules, you should be able to re-install 7 for three full days in order to install Win8 as an upgrade.

    Great Scott on
    I'm unique. Just like everyone else.
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    Thanks for the replies.

    I wasn't quite sure what I was hoping to do either - wanted to upgrade the desktop preferably without changing the laptop. I had read on Microsoft's site that the processor needed some feature - ECM? - that I didn't see in the desktop's BIOS.

    So ended up trying Windows 8 anyway and it worked! The 4GB of RAM I added helped, as so far it's running fine.

    Final specs running Windows 8:

    Pentium D (Presler 64x) 3Ghz
    6GB RAM
    240GB HDD

    Got a Windows Score of 3.1 mostly due to the non-existent graphics power.

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