Activation Error after Clean Install of Windows 7

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CoolhandLocke

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Sep 6, 2013
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Did a dban and clean install of Win 7 on an old laptop I'm selling to pay for my new one, and can't get the sucker activated.

The laptop (HP G71-448) had Win 7 pre-installed, no disk and the sticker rubbed off the bottom sometime last year. I used a tool to pull up the CD Key & Product ID before killing the HD, and now that key won't work.

The laptop has absolutely nothing on it aside from a clean version of Win 7 32-bit and the drivers for WiFi. I haven't done any of the updates at all, just tried to activate and got the 0xC004E003 error.

Was going to just let the new owner handle the updates, but thought maybe an update or something I'm missing may be effecting the validation? My Key and info should be dead-on as I copy/pasted to a file, and transferred it over to my new PC before wiping the old one.

Any help would be appreciated, it's Windows 7 Premium SP1 32-bit.
 
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Sounds like the key that was entered into the system (the one you retreived prior to using DBAN) -- was the original OEM key that was auto activated by the OEM and not the COA key that was on the now unreadable sticker and MS will not reactivate that key (since they have been released to the public and are easily found on the internet -- ie was the key you retreived 4FG99-BC3HD-73CQT-WMF7J-3Q6C9 -- The HP Windows 7 Home Premium OEM SLP key) -- In order to reinstall and reactivate you need the key that was on the label placed on the system that you say is not readable. There are a couple of things you could try :

1.) Call HP support and explain the situation to them and they will ask you for some information about the laptop (ie. serial...
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CoolhandLocke

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Just checked the info I copied over from the registry before the format. Say's "Installed from OEM Media", then the line with the product key, activation, etc.., and the clean install .iso came from Digital River.

Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere to buy the recovery disks for this particular model on HP's site. May have overlooked them, guess I can call if nothing else if you think it may help. Any idea how much recovery disks usually run? Can't imagine they are as much as a retail copy, but I've seen stranger things with older equipment.


 
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4745454b

4745454b

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I believe they are only supposed to charge you for mailing. (handling probably as well...) It's been awhile since I've dealt with this however. Might want to just throw linux on there and give whoever buys it the key on a piece of paper. Be easier for you.
 
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Dark Lord of Tech

Dark Lord of Tech

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If your license key is correct , the install with retail media ISO should still work , but you will have to activate using the automated phone option.


The licence installed by the OEM OS disc is called a Volume Licence Key (VLK), these are used by OEM's to make it easy to install legitimate product on millions of PC's, the COA sticker key is the unique single user license that has to be distributed with the PC as per their agreement with Microsoft. Record the COA key somewhere safe as the stickers tend to get unreadable over time.

Legally you only have one key. If you lose your OEM install disc, you can use a non OEM disk to install the OS and then use the key on the COA sticker to install and activate

http://superuser.com/questions/259486/preinstalled-windows-vs-oem-installation-key-license-two-licenses-or-one
 
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JDFan

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Jan 5, 2010
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Sounds like the key that was entered into the system (the one you retreived prior to using DBAN) -- was the original OEM key that was auto activated by the OEM and not the COA key that was on the now unreadable sticker and MS will not reactivate that key (since they have been released to the public and are easily found on the internet -- ie was the key you retreived 4FG99-BC3HD-73CQT-WMF7J-3Q6C9 -- The HP Windows 7 Home Premium OEM SLP key) -- In order to reinstall and reactivate you need the key that was on the label placed on the system that you say is not readable. There are a couple of things you could try :

1.) Call HP support and explain the situation to them and they will ask you for some information about the laptop (ie. serial number, model, etc.) and will sometimes provide a new key that will get you activated ( OEM versions are supported by the manufacturer and not MS so they are suppose to be the ones that verify the purchase and provide support to get the system reactivated if there are problems )

2. If HP will not help then calling the MS activation hotline and explaining to them that the Software required a reinstall and HP will not help will sometimes get MS to provide help (they will ask for information about the system to ensure you are installing the correct version that came with the system and will want you to give them any info you can still read from the sticker as well as the model and serial number of the laptop etc. )

Normally since you are dealing with a laptop that did come with the OS preinstalled one or the other will provide an activation response code that will activate the system but it does sometimes take a bit of talking with the support staff to get it done.
 
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CoolhandLocke

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Sep 6, 2013
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You nailed it. That is the exact number the program pulled from the registry before I dbann'ed.

I'm going to call up HP Monday and see if they can do anything for me. The Microsoft info is definitely unrecoverable, but the HP sticker has the serial number, product number, and barcodes so maybe they'll be able to help me out.

Luckily, my new laptop came with disks and there's no windows key sticker attached. You can bet I'll put a piece of scotch tape of any #'s from now on. Never expected it to rub off, but never checked as I always just reformatted it through HP's recovery setup... was easy and automatic, but turned to be problematic in the end I suppose... If all else fails, I'll Linux it as I can't see spending too much money on a copy of windows or disks for a laptop that isn't worth a whole lot as it is.

Thanks again!
 
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