Activate Windows 7 32-Bit when it refuses to save the key.
Mathbeul Posted messages 14 Status Membre -
Hello, in 2010, I assembled a computer for all my 32-bit software.
At the time, I installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 and everything went well until my hard drive failed.
So, I installed a new two Terabyte hard drive... And I decided to upgrade to Windows 7 (the operating system that was new at the time I built my tower)
I bought a CD on eBay (see photo) and a license key because this box didn't have one.
However, I CANNOT ACTIVATE THE PRODUCT KEY! I have 25 days left to activate the product.
What to do?
Thank you.
Here is the history of my attempts:
- I entered the key I bought.
- "invalid key"
- I tried all the keys from this page:
https://www.malekal.com/cle-produit-windows/
- "invalid key"
Yesterday, I entered my key again and this window appeared:
I called, then entered the requested characters on the Windows site sent by SMS by the voicemail attached during the call:
"your installation ID could not be validated".
Why? No idea, I did it twice, still no positive response.
In despair, I tried EVERYTHING the following article recommends:
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/153626-product-key-number-windows-7-find-see.html
each time the same answer:
or (with key cloning software):
So? What to do? Find a cracked version of W7? Reinstall XP?
I remember that this double authentication system was necessary back then for XP too, so it will be the same problem.
Maybe 8.1 exists in 32 bits? Would my computer support it?
I have half a dozen 32-bit software programs that I use daily for work and even with a clone of an old Windows on Windows 10, they won't open anymore!
I need a dedicated computer.
It’s a race against time, I don’t understand anything about their "activation": I have a key, Windows should work once it's entered, period.
5 réponses
Good evening,
Your key is on the part that I censored from your label in your photo.
I censored it, but it's already late, once published, someone could have taken it.
Phone activation is a hassle, but it should have worked even though Windows 7 is no longer supported; otherwise, Microsoft would tell you never to share your key in full, not even with them, it's their policy, otherwise a Retail license transfers to a single PC.
But you have an OEM label, valid only for one PC.
If you bought it unpackaged, it has probably already been activated.
So since Windows 7 is no longer supported, there is Windows 10 left, which won't be for long.
But for Windows 10, you need to install the .NET Framework 2.0-3.5 for older software.
Or a Linux like Ubuntu or another one according to your taste, to "Save" this PC.
PS:
Then I see that you installed Ultimate when your key is Pro.
That's why it wasn't working.
You would need to create an ISO file with the DVD (Using ImgBurn)
Prepare a USB key with Rufus in MBR to install with an old BIOS.
Then remove the ei.cfg file from the Sources folder to be able to install the Pro version.
There you go.
Hello,
This is all Chinese to me.
An OEM license is by definition tied to a PC, usually without a box, and back in the days of Windows 7, it was represented by a sticker affixed to the PC; I doubt there were ever any OEM Ultimate versions.
If for some reason one does not have the Ultimate license, a Windows 7 license can be found online for a negligible amount (and an ISO for nothing); for individuals, there doesn't seem to be much interest in Ultimate, nor really in Pro, but that's mostly what you find.
The whole 32-bit story is also strange, unless the PC is an antique with a 32-bit processor; all 32-bit software works regardless of whether the architecture is 32 or 64 bits, only 64-bit software does not function on a 32-bit architecture.
Even in the latter case, you can easily find ISO files, including Pro, in 32 bits.
It is no longer possible to officially activate Windows XP (the activation servers have been shut down).
That's the end of the story.
Sorry for the readers of this thread who will try to activate W7 in the future: I formatted my hard drive and installed XP, for which I have the box with the key.
You still need to activate it, and the phone service (a voicemail) is still working in 2024. So I activated it that way.
I just spent five hours doing all these operations*, including service packs 1 to 3.
The service pack 3 can only be found in one place at the time I'm writing this: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=893803
The first two packs are easy to find. It's essential to find the 3: it fixes the many bugs of the 2.
I keep them on a drive, you never know.
I abandoned the project of installing 7, too bad. Thank you.
*Time spent managing the numerous incomplete Pack 3s found on the internet, installations that crashed the computer for no reason, finding the right .net, graphic updates, manually changing the boot between the DVD and the HDD, etc., etc.
Good evening,
One can assume that if the key was not found in the box, it has already been used and thus, the ISO cannot be validated with another key. Similarly, the keys found on different sites only activate commercial products by chance and sporadically.
As a result, I doubt that any participant could provide a substitute solution to the conventional procedure.
In my opinion, it would have been better to return the product by arguing that it was delivered incorrectly.
Hello, thank you for this clarification.
So, since I have my Windows XP installation CD with the key, purchased in 2003, can I install that one instead? I won't have to activate it, since I did that back in the day?
Did I understand correctly, or will I need to activate it through a service that might not even exist anymore?
Hello,
I'm not sure you can skip redoing it (after a mistake in my memory), knowing that the servers are now more operational.
In any case, you have nothing to lose by trying to do it, except for the fact that updates and security patches are no longer available to my knowledge (Windows Update), so precautions would need to be taken in case of a permanent connection to the internet.
In "response" to Brucine, whom I greet, sales of boxed licenses are allowed as long as they are delivered with a usable license (not previously installed), which is absent from the Windows 7 product mentioned at the beginning of the topic.
Did I say anything else? It's either cheese or dessert: either there is a box and it's a retail license, or the license is dematerialized (apart from the sticker that no longer exists for OEM versions since Windows 8) and is either OEM or volume.
The cardboard has always been expensive, and the DVDs remain so: until Windows XP, OEM manufacturers provided a DVD without a nice (or ugly) box as a rule.
I had two until recently that I threw away since I no longer have a DVD drive and anyway it’s useless, everyone can have an ISO.
Hello,
An older CJEU ruling, originally from German sources, states that nothing can oppose the sale of used licenses within the EU, which is generally the case for those sold online (recovered from broken machines, etc.).
There is a gray area involving certain sellers who market bulk licenses that are illegitimate for individuals or because they are illegitimate altogether (licenses are diverted from an organization, or that organization itself no longer has bulk licenses or does not have the necessary quota).