Phone activation?

[rriegel]

Why when I reinstall Windows 7 Pro on the same exact computer does the activation code under my battery not work? Then I gotta call an automated system to activate? I think this is stupid. Opinions?

[LloydA111]

I had something similar happen. I installed Windows 7 with a key (not the one on the bottom, because that's for a different version of Windows) and it said it was invalid. So I rang the automated system and it all got sorted. Yet the same key I used to install 7 in a VM, perhaps that's why it said it was invalid when I tried on real hardware.

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[Nicholas Marty]

I suspect it has something to do with it beein an OEM License. The license gets invalidated to prevent the installation of the OS on multiple computers. I don't know however why the automated phone system works ;)

[Ron Nicholson]

I haven't installed that many copies of windows 7, but Windows XP had some weird rules on when you had to call and talk to someone or it would just activate. Sometimes installing the same copy, same code on the same pc multiple times in a short period would make you call. Never understood why nothing ever changed. It is a crappy system though.