Windows 7 Product Key Issue
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This has me in a bit of a pickle -
Windows 8 computer which was downgraded to Windows 7 was recently re-imaged with Windows 7Pro-64b. As it turns out, the Image we used was from a MS Volume Licensing plan that is no longer available.
What options are there to recover this without having to take the computer back to zero and installing the OS again. This has already set the user back about two weeks.
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Do downgrade rights remain after the VL is abandoned?
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@scottalanmiller said:
Do downgrade rights remain after the VL is abandoned?
Well, in a matter of speaking yes. But that's because downgrade have nothing to do with VL, they are part of the OS license, not the VL license.
So the question more correctly is, can you continue to use VL media and keys after your VL expires? This I don't know.
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The root issue is that we were scrambling to find a usable Win7 Pro-64 image, and the only one I could find was one that we had used for a customer with a VL. The current customer that we used the image for does not have a VL for Win7, and MS no longer offers it as a product. We are kinda stuck now, so is there a clean way out, or do we have to eat it and re-image with another OS?
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@art_of_shred said:
The root issue is that we were scrambling to find a usable Win7 Pro-64 image, and the only one I could find was one that we had used for a customer with a VL. The current customer that we used the image for does not have a VL for Win7, and MS no longer offers it as a product. We are kinda stuck now, so is there a clean way out, or do we have to eat it and re-image with another OS?
The only correct solution that I am aware of is to buy a VL Windows 10 and install Windows 7.
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@JaredBusch said:
The only correct solution that I am aware of is to buy a VL Windows 10 and install Windows 7.
So, are you saying that if we have another VL, say for Win8, that we could apply that VL to the image of 7 that was a VL image?
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@art_of_shred said:
@JaredBusch said:
The only correct solution that I am aware of is to buy a VL Windows 10 and install Windows 7.
So, are you saying that if we have another VL, say for Win8, that we could apply that VL to the image of 7 that was a VL image?
If your VL is expired for that client... I think your only legal choice is to install Windows 7 from OEM or FPP media and the (any) key you can get your hands on. If that key won't auto register, you can call MS and tell them that you are using your Downgrade rights to install Win 7 on this machine, and the only media you had was for OEM...
using downgrade rights requires you to provide your own media - any media you can find.
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to bad you didn't have the Win 7 VL code they used to have (I'm assuming you can't find it on the VL website under their account?)
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@Dashrender said:
to bad you didn't have the Win 7 VL code they used to have (I'm assuming you can't find it on the VL website under their account?)
because if you can, I'd just use that, again calling if it won't activate with an MAK.
