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[SOLVED!] Can't activate Windows 7 Ultimate!


ppgrainbow

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5 hours ago, Tripredacus said:

That's quite simple. Many companies do not want to use or cannot use Windows 10, and Windows 7 is end of sale. So this leaves only distribution (which I'm not sure what the stock levels are at, I can check next week) or the secondary market to obtain Windows 7 licenses. Companies are the big factor here because they have more purchasing power in the desktop/notebook market than average consumers. The only way for a company to purchase a new computer with Windows 7 now is to use Embedded.

What ends up happening is that the secondary market dries up quickly. The same happened to XP when it went end of sale and people didn't want to buy Vista.

Windows 7 Pro and Windows 8.1 reached End of Sale on 31 October 2016. Windows Vista is no longer legally sold as of 22 October 2011 and Windows XP one year earlier.

Microsoft is now telling existing Windows Vista users to get off as it will kill support for the OS on 11 April 2017. Windows 7 reaches end of life on 14 January 2020. Windows 8.1 loses Mainstream Support on 9 January 2018 and will reach end of life 10 January 2023.

The Linksys WMP54A network card that I'm using is compatible with Windows 7, but has untested compatibility in Windows 8 and Windows 10.

If you have checked any stock levels for Windows 7 (OEM or retail), let me know. If the secondary market dries up very quickly, consumers still stuck on Windows XP and Windows Vista are going to be clearly out of luck.

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Hi ppgrainbow:D

You can still buy Windows 7 Professional OEM here in Sweden in English (All though that doesn't really matter) and it is from  reputable companies I use for most stuff to do with computers....but not cheep...it has more than doubled in price and is currently being sold at several outlets for around 1700 Swedish kronor about 187 USD or 177 Euro...

bookie32

As a personal note: I don't think an upgrade is the way to go....probably just my opinion but they never work properly....

I did see this one (in Swedish) it is an ESD and I can't say if it is reputable or not....

Edited by bookie32
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Yes the end-of-sale date for Windows 7 is not so cut and dry. It means OEMs cannot pre-install it anymore except for RMA scenario. Also it cannot be advertised on a website or a flyer for sale. Direct OEMs are still allowed to sell remaining stock if they have COAs. That is for direct version, OEM Facilitated Downgrades cannot be done at all.

For OEM System Builder Kit, it is different. I believe that it is still true that it cannot be advertised for pre-install on a new computer, but can be made available for sale as the kit. If you were to call up a company and ask for it, and they have it, then you can buy a computer with it pre-installed.

The end-of-sale is just for advertising. There is no "legal" part to it, you can still sell Vista or XP if you had the kits. It depends on the type of company that it is. If it is just a small computer/repair shop that is not a MS shop (as in, they do not operate under contracts) they can still sell a computer with XP if they had the media/COA for it. I think even System Builders may be able to do this, but certainly big OEMs can not.

I checked distribution. There is a ton of Win7 Pro SP1 x64 System Builder Kit still available.

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A bona-fide used Windows 7 Ultimate FPP in the original box with license number card, leafets and both x86 and x64 hologram DVDs sells 'round here for about US$100... it may reach US$150 for versions without geographic Activation Restrictions (to South America and the Caribbean). Brand-new, unopened, still in the intact shrink-wrap are much more expensive, but very rare to be found. And the media usually are pre-SP1, but that's no problem, of course, the license being good.

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And I will reiterate how for someone having a Windows 7 that is not "genuine" the official (and straightforward) solution is the GGK:

https://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/antipiracy/Pages/get_genuine_kit.aspx#fbid=pnHxNe8piDn

Whether it is available still in the US, as said, it is another matter, but wouldn't - say - Walmart do? A full (OEM) license for US$ 139:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Microsoft-Windows-7-Professional-with-SP1-64-bit-Operating-System-PC/36009635?

or TigerDirect:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213934&CatId=306

jaclaz
 

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On 12/30/2016 at 2:22 AM, bookie32 said:

Hi ppgrainbow:D

You can still buy Windows 7 Professional OEM here in Sweden in English (All though that doesn't really matter) and it is from  reputable companies I use for most stuff to do with computers....but not cheep...it has more than doubled in price and is currently being sold at several outlets for around 1700 Swedish kronor about 187 USD or 177 Euro...

bookie32

As a personal note: I don't think an upgrade is the way to go....probably just my opinion but they never work properly....

I did see this one (in Swedish) it is an ESD and I can't say if it is reputable or not....

I don't think that I will be able to get it from where you are.

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On 12/30/2016 at 7:34 AM, Tripredacus said:

Yes the end-of-sale date for Windows 7 is not so cut and dry. It means OEMs cannot pre-install it anymore except for RMA scenario. Also it cannot be advertised on a website or a flyer for sale. Direct OEMs are still allowed to sell remaining stock if they have COAs. That is for direct version, OEM Facilitated Downgrades cannot be done at all.

For OEM System Builder Kit, it is different. I believe that it is still true that it cannot be advertised for pre-install on a new computer, but can be made available for sale as the kit. If you were to call up a company and ask for it, and they have it, then you can buy a computer with it pre-installed.

The end-of-sale is just for advertising. There is no "legal" part to it, you can still sell Vista or XP if you had the kits. It depends on the type of company that it is. If it is just a small computer/repair shop that is not a MS shop (as in, they do not operate under contracts) they can still sell a computer with XP if they had the media/COA for it. I think even System Builders may be able to do this, but certainly big OEMs can not.

I checked distribution. There is a ton of Win7 Pro SP1 x64 System Builder Kit still available.

Thank you for the information. However, Windows 7 Pro OEM licenses cannot be legally replenished anymore and once the supply completely runs out, Windows 7 migrators are out of luck.

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On 12/30/2016 at 10:07 AM, dencorso said:

A bona-fide used Windows 7 Ultimate FPP in the original box with license number card, leafets and both x86 and x64 hologram DVDs sells 'round here for about US$100... it may reach US$150 for versions without geographic Activation Restrictions (to South America and the Caribbean). Brand-new, unopened, still in the intact shrink-wrap are much more expensive, but very rare to be found. And the media usually are pre-SP1, but that's no problem, of course, the license being good.

Wow! I can't believe that only eBay still has a handful of Windows 7 DVDs on sale, both retail and OEM.

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On 12/30/2016 at 10:42 AM, jaclaz said:

And I will reiterate how for someone having a Windows 7 that is not "genuine" the official (and straightforward) solution is the GGK:

https://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/antipiracy/Pages/get_genuine_kit.aspx#fbid=pnHxNe8piDn

Whether it is available still in the US, as said, it is another matter, but wouldn't - say - Walmart do? A full (OEM) license for US$ 139:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Microsoft-Windows-7-Professional-with-SP1-64-bit-Operating-System-PC/36009635?

or TigerDirect:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213934&CatId=306

jaclaz
 

If I can't go for Windows 7, there is still a opportunity to get a Windows 8.1 retail licenses off of eBay or Amazon. :)

Walmart can't sell Windows 7 anymore, because Microsoft terminated retail sales in late 2013.

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On 12/30/2016 at 1:07 PM, dencorso said:

geographic Activation Restrictions

Clairification, I had only checked US distribution, I checked specifically the Windows 7 Pro SP1 en-US, 6x disty with a total around 10,000. That number would not include places like Amazon, as they are not something I can find out about, or any other retailer/VAR type place. And it is true, once disty runs out, you are then only left with what is in the secondary market.

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15 hours ago, ppgrainbow said:

Walmart can't sell Windows 7 anymore, because Microsoft terminated retail sales in late 2013.

Look, I gave you a link where Walmart.com is selling it at the moment (though at this moment "only 4 left"):

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Microsoft-Windows-7-Professional-with-SP1-64-bit-Operating-System-PC/36009635?

Have you tried it and they told you that you cannot have it and they left the order page open?

Or are you saying that Walmart is not Walmart.com? :unsure:

It is very likely that you cannot find it in actual Walmart stores, of course.

jaclaz

 

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Just for the record: I bought a true Windows 7 Ultimate FPP in the original box, complete but opened and having geographic Activation Restrictions, at a small neighborhood computer service store last month. I've then installed the MSDN x86-ENU 7 ultimate SP1u image on a new machine and then activated it using the FPP license I had just bought, straight from the card, and it just activated! No telephone call to MS was even needed! Yay! :thumbup  

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5 hours ago, jaclaz said:

Look, I gave you a link where Walmart.com is selling it at the moment (though at this moment "only 4 left"):

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Microsoft-Windows-7-Professional-with-SP1-64-bit-Operating-System-PC/36009635?

Have you tried it and they told you that you cannot have it and they left the order page open?

Or are you saying that Walmart is not Walmart.com? :unsure:

It is very likely that you cannot find it in actual Walmart stores, of course.

jaclaz

 

I think that I misread my comment, but thanks for pointing the link out.

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