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Windows 7 Activation Key Question

by PrincessPeach
10 replies
Hi,

My sister gave me her legit windows 7 CD key and we both installed in on our computers. Apparently this is against the TOS and when windows does a vertification check eventually, everything goes to ****. Her friend told her that after 30 days your screen goes black and you can't access your OS anymore.

Can someone tell me what happens exactly?
#activation #key #question #windows #windows 7
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    You reach a point where the ONLY option is to activate with a valid key, and you can't do anything else.
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  • Profile picture of the author PowerWealth247
    When you installed Win7 you agreed to their terms not to install that copy on more than one machine. When your "trial" expires Microsoft will offer to allow you to purchase online a legit key code for the machine. You'll be forewarned that "this copy of Windows 7 will expire in 7 days..." when the countdown begins.
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    • Profile picture of the author PrincessPeach
      Originally Posted by PowerWealth247 View Post

      When you installed Win7 you agreed to their terms not to install that copy on more than one machine. When your "trial" expires Microsoft will offer to allow you to purchase online a legit key code for the machine. You'll be forewarned that "this copy of Windows 7 will expire in 7 days..." when the countdown begins.
      Countdown to the black screen of death???

      Now you've peaked my curosity...
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  • Profile picture of the author Bossman34
    You wouldn't happen to be a student would you? If you are you can get it for a steal! I was able to get it for $29.99.

    If not, I'm afraid you'll have to purchase an activation key at full price to keep it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
      No black screen, it won't erase your hard drive.

      It will simply not allow you to login to the system until you have a valid license key. It will give you an option to enter a new key, and then will activate, assuming the key is valid.

      I'd recommend you get a backup made of all your critical data now, and be prepared for the upcoming event. If you do not want to purchase a new key, you will need to reload your system with the OS which belongs on it, and reload everything.

      I just went through this fun when my Release Candidate copy of Windows 7 expired. I switched back to my Vista 64-bit.

      Can you imagine the backlash Microsoft would face if it actually erased your hard drive, deleting important data?
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    • Profile picture of the author PrincessPeach
      Originally Posted by Bossman34 View Post

      You wouldn't happen to be a student would you? If you are you can get it for a steal! I was able to get it for $29.99.

      If not, I'm afraid you'll have to purchase an activation key at full price to keep it.
      My sisters a student and she got it for free, I'm Alum and they won't let me purchase it from them at all!
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by PrincessPeach View Post

        My sisters a student and she got it for free, I'm Alum and they won't let me purchase it from them at all!
        You're lucky they even OFFER a student version. For your sister's sake, you might want to take care of this ASAP! Technically, SHE broke the law, and M/S might disable HER copy as well. ALUMS are **NOT** students, and nobody considers them to be such. M/S has cracked down at least on several dealers, so it is best if you have a student ID. Take a class, and get one, I don't think they care what kind of class you take, but it should be accredited or a community college. You can get like an 80%+ discount. You can ALSO go to a computer show. Most sell student copies illegally, WITHOUT any ID needed, but at student price. OR, you can get an enterprise MSDN subscription, though that costs a lot.

        Steve

        BTW can we REALLY say what they WILL do? Earlier they promised more restrictive licenses even with XP.
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  • Profile picture of the author ss442
    My understanding is that Win.7 seems OK. You can get a downloadable copy of XP for about $60 if you lose almost everything.

    The last rate I saw for Win.7 was about $113 or something like that.

    Another interesting point, I just finished a 4 week battle with two pieces of junk trojan software that invaded my system that I finally killed with some freeware, but when communicating with a software tech, he was adamant about getting the latest version of Win.7. It has something to do with better armor against viruses and trojans.

    My two cents for what it's worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    Originally Posted by PrincessPeach View Post

    Hi,

    My sister gave me her legit windows 7 CD key and we both installed in on our computers. Apparently this is against the TOS and when windows does a vertification check eventually, everything goes to ****. Her friend told her that after 30 days your screen goes black and you can't access your OS anymore.

    Can someone tell me what happens exactly?
    Black screen, no.

    What happens is you get a screen asking you to enter some verification code you have to call MS to get.

    But yeah, sharing CD keys like that is a no no. You should tell MS what happened, and have them sell you a second one so you don't end up with a locked up computer.
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