My HDD doesnt work with my new build

[keys_99]

ok so i recently purchased a dx58so motherboard, an intel i7-950, 2 2gb sticks of crucial ddr3 ram and installed those in my new computer i built. before i installed thee things, the computer worked fine. i also have windows 7 64 bit installed, in case that matters.

now, the problem is that when i boot up, and it gets to the "starting windows" screen, is starts to load and then the computer restarts and tells me that windows did not start properly. when i install my with my old settings, it works fine. is there anything i can do to fix this without trying out a new hard drive?

also, i dont have my stuff to re-install windows 7. i have the CD, but i never wrote down the key to go with it (i get free software from my school i used to attend but do not go there anymore) is there a way i can find my cd key without buying a new copy of windows 7?

 

[zergesys]

Well, if you're reinstalling the OS and can't seem to find the key, try the APKAS (Automated Phone Key Activation Service ... okay I made up the acronym, but that's what the system is) which should show up as an activation option in your OS install.

I've had to do this before, and it seems to work fine.

 

[jedi940]

Windows is probably having a fit because you changed the motherboard. I believe that the windows activation is tied to the motherboard so since you changed that, it thinks you have installed it on another computer (which you have). If you don't have the key, it is going to be harder. I believe there are some free programs that attempt to extract the windows key from your computer but I have never had good luck with them. At least not when I tried to use them with windows XP. Most likely you will have to reinstall windows. Do you know if you have an OEM version or Retail version? OEMs are not supposed to be moved from one computer to another but retails can. That being said, I am about to try to move an OEM windows 7 install to another computer so we'll see how that goes (crosses fingers).

 

[keys_99]

i actually found a program that worked using google that was free, i forget what it was called though since i reinstalled my OS. it was a retail. my comp works now, thank you so much for the info! i couldn't find the answer anywhere.

 

[jedi940]

Glad to help.