activate windows 7 oem key

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

Is there any way to activate a oem key in a win 7 wich has not been installed with the oem disk? The key is the one wich came with the computer and I installed version that matchs with it, so there wouldn't be any problem of using any other disk of win 7, but it doesn't activate.

INSTG8R · Jun 18, 2010

well I bought 2 copies of OEM a couple days apart. 1 for my laptop and 1 for my desktop. I used the same disk to install on both machines and just waited for 2nd copy to arrive before I activated it.
So no I don't think it matters.

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

then I don't understand anything

Black Panther · Jun 18, 2010

I guess you can use any oem win7 disk with an oem win7 key.

But you can't use an oem win7 key if you install using a retail version win7 disk.

I stand to be corrected......

Necrofire · Jun 18, 2010

I didn't know that. When you say came with computer, was it purchased separately or is it a Dell, HP or something?

If it's a Dell or something, then the key that came with it has been activated via SLIC most likely, in which case you can't activate without the xrm-ms that was on the original install.

At least I think that's the way it goes.

INSTG8R · Jun 18, 2010

Well if you go Control Panel/System you can change the key from there as well.If I recall it did have the key already there from the first one so I had to change it before I activated it.
But I only used one disk to install it on both systems they were both Win 7 Pro OEM.

Sasqui · Jun 18, 2010

FWIW, WinXP OEM and Retail disks and keys cannot be interchanged. I suspect it's the same with Win 7.

The good thing is that any OEM key will work with any OEM install, regardless of the branded vendor.

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

Necrofire said:
I didn't know that. When you say came with computer, was it purchased separately or is it a Dell, HP or something?

If it's a Dell or something, then the key that came with it has been activated via SLIC most likely, in which case you can't activate without the xrm-ms that was on the original install.

At least I think that's the way it goes.

It came with my asus laptop. I looked the microsoft sticky below and it says windows home premium OA with an asus logo.

My mistake, I thougt this type of keys were called oem.

Actually the problem I have with my original recovery dvds is that I have the windows installation dvd but I missed the support/drivers dvd. And the recovery won't continue unless I put the support dvd during the process. So before contact asus to ask them for that disk and wait (and most probably pay for it) I got an original windows 7 disk and tried to put the key I have with my laptop. But that doesn't work.

About that xrm-ms, can it be somewhere in my installation dvd?

Kreij · Jun 18, 2010

You cannot activate a retail version of Windows with an OEM key.
The retail version should have it's own activation key.
If you just borrowed the Win DVD from someone who is using the key, that won't work with your OEM (OA) key.

pwned by newtekie. lol My bad.
It does work in Vista and 7, just not in XP.

Have you looked on the ASUS website to see if you can re-download the driver/diag disk, or at least everything you need to make one?

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

Kreij said:
You cannot activate a retail version of Windows with an OEM key.
The retail version should have it's own activation key.
If you just borrowed the Win DVD from someone who is using the key, that won't work with your OEM (OA) key.

Kreij said:
Have you looked on the ASUS website to see if you can re-download the driver/diag disk, or at least everything you need to make one?

Not yet, that's the last thing I wanted to try. But seems I have to.

newtekie1 · Jun 18, 2010

There is no difference between the OEM disc and the Retail disc with Windows 7. A retail disc will accept a OEM or Retail key, and vise versa.

If the OEM Key wasn't going to work with the disc you have, it would have stopped you during the install when it first asked you for the key, not during activation.

What is likely the problem is that, since the OEM version has already been activated once, it is failing activation again. Activate it over the phone using the option given to you on the failed activation screen, and you shouldn't have a problem activating it.

Kreij · Jun 18, 2010

Is that only for 7? Didn't used to work with XP for me (retail disk -> OEM key)

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

newtekie1 said:
If the OEM Key wasn't going to work with the disc you have, it would have stopped you during the install when it first asked you for the key, not during activation.

Well it didn't stop me because I told the installation program to activate the key later, so I didn't put any key during the installation. Maybe can it work if I put the key when it asks me in the installation?

EviLZeD · Jun 18, 2010

Ive installed windows 7 using retail disk but with an oem key it worked fine you can always change the key from right clicking my computer-properties then selecting change product key

Tartaros · Jun 18, 2010

I'll try again. Thanks.

newtekie1 · Jun 18, 2010

Kreij said:
Is that only for 7? Didn't used to work with XP for me (retail disk -> OEM key)

Win7 and Vista. It did not work with XP, OEM and Retail discs were different for XP(and anything pre-XP).

Tartaros said:
Well it didn't stop me because I told the installation program to activate the key later, so I didn't put any key during the installation. Maybe can it work if I put the key when it asks me in the installation?

If it is already installed, you can enter it when you activate.

Is it saying the key is not valid or is it failing activation? A screen shot of the error it is giving you would help a lot.

Kreij · Jun 18, 2010

Thanks, Newt. I knew it didn't work in XP and never really checked after that.

Tartaros · Jun 19, 2010

I tried once again from the beginning and it didn't work. Finally I used the phone option and it worked. Thanks all for your help :toast:

Win7user · Aug 1, 2010

Cannot activate win7

I got a problem too when activating win 7 home premium oem. The error code 0x80072ee2 and message "The operation timed out" ??

Frick · Aug 1, 2010

Win7user said:
I got a problem too when activating win 7 home premium oem. The error code 0x80072ee2 and message "The operation timed out" ??

That's probably due to problems with the connection. Activate over the phone usually works.

System Name	Rectangulote
Processor	Core I9-9900KF
Motherboard	Asus TUF Z390M
Cooling	Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora 280 + Eisblock RTX 3090 RE + 2 x 240 ST30
Memory	32 GB DDR4 3600mhz CL16 Crucial Ballistix
Video Card(s)	KFA2 RTX 3090 SG
Storage	WD Blue 3D 2TB + 2 x WD Black SN750 1TB
Display(s)	2 x Asus ROG Swift PG278QR / Samsung Q60R
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	Evga Nu Audio + Sennheiser HD599SE + Trust GTX 258
Power Supply	Corsair RMX850
Mouse	Razer Naga Wireless Pro / Logitech MX Master
Keyboard	Keychron K4 / Dierya DK61 Pro
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling	TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory	2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage	970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s)	Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case	TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse	G502 Hero
Keyboard	G19s
VR HMD	Oculus Quest 2
Software	Win 10 Pro x64

System Name	Rectangulote
Processor	Core I9-9900KF
Motherboard	Asus TUF Z390M
Cooling	Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora 280 + Eisblock RTX 3090 RE + 2 x 240 ST30
Memory	32 GB DDR4 3600mhz CL16 Crucial Ballistix
Video Card(s)	KFA2 RTX 3090 SG
Storage	WD Blue 3D 2TB + 2 x WD Black SN750 1TB
Display(s)	2 x Asus ROG Swift PG278QR / Samsung Q60R
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	Evga Nu Audio + Sennheiser HD599SE + Trust GTX 258
Power Supply	Corsair RMX850
Mouse	Razer Naga Wireless Pro / Logitech MX Master
Keyboard	Keychron K4 / Dierya DK61 Pro
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Black Panther
Processor	i9 9900k
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO Wifi 1.0
Cooling	NZXT Kraken X72 360mm
Memory	2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 3600Mhz
Video Card(s)	Palit RTX2080 Ti Dual 11GB DDR6
Storage	Samsung EVO 970 500GB SSD M.2 & 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
Display(s)	32'' Gigabyte G32QC 2560x1440 165Hz
Case	NZXT H710i Black
Audio Device(s)	Razer Electra V2 & Z5500 Speakers
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850 Gold 80+
Mouse	Some Corsair lost the box forgot the model
Keyboard	Motospeed
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Chuck
Processor	Core i5-2500k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard	msi P67A-C43
Cooling	hyper 212, 2 120mm fans
Memory	8GB DDR3 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6870
Storage	60GB sata3 sandforce ssd, 1TB samsung hdd
Display(s)	Yamakazi Catleap
Case	Possibly Antec, not sure
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Rosewill 600W

activate windows 7 oem key

Tartaros

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

Tartaros

Black Panther

Necrofire

New Member

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

Sasqui

Tartaros

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

Tartaros

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

Tartaros

EviLZeD

New Member

Tartaros

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

Tartaros

Win7user

New Member

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Ez - 1st custom
Processor	AMD Phenom x3 8450
Motherboard	Asus m3a78-em
Cooling	thermaltake mini typhoon :D aerogate fan controller
Memory	6gb corsair xms 2 800mhz ddr2
Video Card(s)	xpertvision HD 4850 1GB ddr3 sonic 685/1000
Storage	Corsair 128gb SSD, 2x 250GB maxtor 16mb cache raid 0, 500gb 32mb cache storage
Display(s)	AMD surround view 2x e172fp 17" 1x dell e248wfp 24"
Case	coolermaster elite 330
Audio Device(s)	creative audigy se
Power Supply	hiper type r 580watt
Software	Windows 7 x64

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!