Windows 7 Will not activate after installing Windows 10 and reverting back

[Format _C:]

I had a computer emergency (thanks to the windows 10 update replacing the Windows.old with the windows 10 update) and I am wondering what happened and why (All is fine for now)


I installed Windows 10 using my "Digital Entitlement" (Which worked fine) and I was going to try it out knowing that I had thirty days to go back to W7 which was moved to the Windows.old folder (Which was then replaced by the new build of Windows 10 for the supposed anniversary update Thanks Microsoft idiots).

So I thought I would just start over fresh anyway but my key has been blocked by the activation servers

(I bought the OS from eBay since Microsoft no longer sells it. So what I bought was supposed to be a genuine copy of W7 Pro. Retail)

So here is where I am curious of what actually happened

I got an SSD back in March of this year and I just cloned the OS drive and did not erase the old one (Yay for being lazy)!

So I plug that drive back in and let it boot up (Slowly as I am now used to the fast boot up from the SSD) and I briefly get the infamous this copy of Windows is not genuine with the black background but I reboot and all is well again I even check the system properties page and it says windows is activated. So I now reclone the SSD with the older backup and it is still activated

So does anyone have a clue of what actually happened to my key?

1. Did I get an MSDN/Technet key
(I actually did get the DVD with a COA sticker though. But I noticed it says "Proof of license. See license terms
Label not to be sold separately and the part number is X15-39395)

2. Did I get an OEM key

3. ??

So what gives?
Thanks for reading

 

[Ocellaris]

Did you try calling the MS activation number? Just call it and they will likely enable it to activate again.

 

[Format _C:]

I called the automated number and it said I had an invalid product installation ID and it could not be activated

 

[Deleted member 245375]

You can use the Windows 7 Product Key Checker to find out what class the Product Key is (Retail, OEM, Volume/MAK, etc):

Download Windows 7 Product Key Checker to Verify Windows 7 Product Key

Technet keys are considered to be Retail so if that's what it is it'll show as Retail (it won't identify as "Technet" or anything of that nature, just Retail).

From checking on the X15-39395 code it appears it's a Windows 7 Pro OA aka OEM license. The DVD you got, is it an actual real deal Microsoft hologram DVD or does it have a dingy dark gold tint to it with something akin to dirty brass look? If so that's a Lightscribe burned DVD not the real deal from Microsoft. Those get passed off a lot as the real thing and of course it's not. The version of Windows it installs will have been cracked/hacked/patched to use a "loader" which executes a small snippet of code during the boot process that tricks the activation routine into thinking it's on an OEM machine from a company like Dell, HP, Gateway, etc even if it's a custom built machine using a retail motherboard.

If the COA sticker you got with it says "WINDOWS 7 PRO OA" on it that's an OEM disc, could be a System Builder version as well but I'm suspecting that since you checked on the Product Key with Microsoft's automated system and it balked and said it's not valid then it's safe to say you got screwed.

The funky thing is getting Windows 10 to activate which you apparently did but, when Microsoft announced they basically didn't care about people using loaders to get activations - the more people using Windows 10 the better for them, even if it upgraded a pirated copy of Windows 7/8/8.1 - so that could be the situation here.

 

[Format _C:]

The DVD looks real to me. But I did not use it to install the OS I used a digital river ISO that had SP1 integrated
I bought it November 2015 and I used it right away (and it activated) also the seller is no registered on eBay

 

[Raxiel]

Are you absolutely certain you are entering the licence key correctly? When I was entering the Windows 8 key to establish the entitlement on this one it refused to work. I double checked and it was right, I even tried skipping activation in setup and copy/pasting from the document I keep all my product keys in. Even phone activation wouldn't work. I even dug out the original email from Microsoft and compared the keys, they looked the same, but I copy pasted from the email and it worked, only after going through it character by character did I realise I'd somehow transposed two characters (the product key file had at one point been pen and paper).

 

[phred15]

The DVD looks real to me. But I did not use it to install the OS I used a digital river ISO that had SP1 integrated
I bought it November 2015 and I used it right away (and it activated) also the seller is no registered on eBay

Did you download the Digital River OEM software or the Retail version?

 

[Format _C:]

Are you absolutely certain you are entering the licence key correctly? When I was entering the Windows 8 key to establish the entitlement on this one it refused to work. I double checked and it was right, I even tried skipping activation in setup and copy/pasting from the document I keep all my product keys in. Even phone activation wouldn't work. I even dug out the original email from Microsoft and compared the keys, they looked the same, but I copy pasted from the email and it worked, only after going through it character by character did I realise I'd somehow transposed two characters (the product key file had at one point been pen and paper).

Yeah I am 100% an idiot here on this issue as I was off 1 digit
I copy all of my product license keys into a KeyPass file and I guess I misread one digit anyway I saved the COA sticker that was on the DVD case and made sure it was now correct and it activated

You can use the Windows 7 Product Key Checker to find out what class the Product Key is (Retail, OEM, Volume/MAK, etc):

Download Windows 7 Product Key Checker to Verify Windows 7 Product Key

Technet keys are considered to be Retail so if that's what it is it'll show as Retail (it won't identify as "Technet" or anything of that nature, just Retail).

From checking on the X15-39395 code it appears it's a Windows 7 Pro OA aka OEM license. The DVD you got, is it an actual real deal Microsoft hologram DVD or does it have a dingy dark gold tint to it with something akin to dirty brass look? If so that's a Lightscribe burned DVD not the real deal from Microsoft. Those get passed off a lot as the real thing and of course it's not. The version of Windows it installs will have been cracked/hacked/patched to use a "loader" which executes a small snippet of code during the boot process that tricks the activation routine into thinking it's on an OEM machine from a company like Dell, HP, Gateway, etc even if it's a custom built machine using a retail motherboard.

If the COA sticker you got with it says "WINDOWS 7 PRO OA" on it that's an OEM disc, could be a System Builder version as well but I'm suspecting that since you checked on the Product Key with Microsoft's automated system and it balked and said it's not valid then it's safe to say you got screwed.

The funky thing is getting Windows 10 to activate which you apparently did but, when Microsoft announced they basically didn't care about people using loaders to get activations - the more people using Windows 10 the better for them, even if it upgraded a pirated copy of Windows 7/8/8.1 - so that could be the situation here.

Thank You for that tool is says my License is a retail one
Also is there a website or tool to actually tell if I do in fact have a Technet or MSDN key?

 

[Raxiel]

Yeah I am 100% an idiot here on this issue as I was off 1 digit
I copy all of my product license keys into a KeyPass file and I guess I misread one digit anyway I saved the COA sticker that was on the DVD case and made sure it was now correct and it activated

Haha, I guess its a firmware bug in the pattern matching of the v1.0 human brain. It loves to transpose characters, then refuse to see the error by auto-correcting what the eyes tell it they see with what it was expecting to see!

Glad you got it resolved.