what version of windows 7 do I need to reinstall?

bbutcher85 · Aug 12, 2014

I had a working system with Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit installed on a 2 disc (160G & 320G SATA) RAID configuration. It had SP1, possibly as an upgrade. The system is an Alienware motherboard with both SATA and IDE connectors. All was OK until I tried to connect an IDE HD to the system, and that apparently corrupted the 320G SATA drive. I could not even use an IDE DVD R/w drive with the two SATA drives for some reason, but USB drives seem to be OK if they are plugged into certain USB ports (some ports cannot find drivers??). I tried to connect the SATA drives to another computer running Windows XP to recover data, but it caused a perpetual restart of Windows whenever both IDE and SATA drives were connected. The Alienware system seems to work more or less with only the 160G drive installed and the IDE DVD drive installed, but the 320G HD cannot be read and says it needs to be formatted. I tried running my system restore disk to no avail.

I downloaded an ISO image Windows 7 from Digital River, but it was Home Premium with SP1, and when installed it did not accept my product key. Do I need to find an ISO without SP1 for it to install correctly? My original CD is missing.

There is still a copy of Windows 7 working on the 160G HD, and I have backup images of my system, but would like to install a clean copy of Windows 7 on the replacement HD. I purchased a 1TB SATA HD and would like to not use a RAID configuration. It appears that my RAID was intended to use two drives as one since the reported size is 447G.

RealBeast · Aug 12, 2014

No, your key should work with either Windows 7 or 7 SP1 as long as it is the same in all other respects (Home Premium, 32 bit, and retail v. OEM).

You can call Microsoft and do a telephone activation once everything is otherwise working properly, just do the install with the activate later selection.

bbutcher85 · Oct 1, 2014

RealBeast :

I tried calling Microsoft, and they claimed my CD key was not valid. Upon further questioning, they claimed the vendor who installed Windows on my computer had blocked this CD key, so I finally gave up and purchased a new copy of Windows 7. I do not believe what I was told, but needed to get it working.

RealBeast · Oct 1, 2014

Who was the original key vendor? I would contact the vendor for a refund and find out why they blocked the key. I would believe what Microsoft said and get to the bottom of why the vendor blocked the key -- sounds like some wrong going on there if that was the original OS install and still the same motherboard.

OEM installs are tied to the original motherboard for Windows 7.

bbutcher85 · Nov 1, 2014

RealBeast :

I got the computer from my son, and he said he did not remember who the guy was that built it. This is the same processor and motherboard as always, just a new HDD, and it reported authenticated for years. I was able to restore an image of my system and got Windows 7 working for a while, but after the latest windows update from Microsoft I now get a message that it is not a genuine version of Windows.
I have several other computers using Windows XP that have the COA on them, but when I try to reinstall Windows XP Pro (full version) it will not authenticate using any of the valid CD keys. I suspect Microsoft is trying to force everyone to upgrade by invalidating previously valid CD keys which really makes me mad. I purchased these copies and they were valid for years; I could care less if Microsoft continues support for them. Most of these computers are not even connected to the internet anyway. Some lawyer should have a field day with a class action suit on this topic.

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what version of windows 7 do I need to reinstall?

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