How to install OEM Windows 7 back on my computer?
I got this HP Pavilion 4 years ago, it came Windows 7 pre-installed (it was Home Premium I guess). Its hard drive stopped working, I dumped it and I bought a new PC. The new PC came with no OS installed. I have this Windows serial number under my HP Pavilion. Three questions :
Is it possible to install Windows on my new PC by using the serial number under Pavilion ? Is it legal ?
If it is not possible (or legal) to do the upper one, is it possible to install it on my HP Pavilion if I mount a new hard disk into it ?
How to do it ?
3 Answers
Look on your old computer there is a label with your activation key on it. It looks like that:
Just put a bootable usb with windows 7 on it or a dvd and try to install.
You can also check your key on microsoft website.
By the way windows 7 home prenium only support up to 16gb of ram.
And yea, if it's an OEM check if you are legal...
2It certainly is possible assuming you can get a copy of the right version of Windows 7 to install. It is possible that, when you verify the serial it may baulk at the new hardware and you would have to try to persuade Microsoft to remove the old hardware signature from their database. But it doesn't hurt (except for some wasted time) to have a go.
The legality of it is somewhat more complex. The main point is that you have a legal license and you are only using 1 copy which would seem fine. It's just whether MS would say the OEM license is only for the original machine.
You could certainly use the original serial number in the old machine with a new disk, there is no question of that. Personally, I'd give it a go on the new machine.
By the way, this won't work with a Windows 8+ PC because the serial number is baked into the TPM. You never get to see it.
UPDATE: There are any number of articles explaining how to legally download Windows installation media. Try How to Download Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 Installation Media — Legally from How-to Geek.
1Well, I contacted Microsoft support and they gave me a link to download a Windows 10 iso. I created a bootable flash drive and installed it on my new PC and activated it with the old serial key under my 7 year old HP Pavilion. The support representative that I talked to told me that it shouldn't be possible but I should try anyway. I did and it worked. I think it had something to do with Microsoft trying to get everybody on the Windows 10 train.
