So last January (2011) when I built my own computer, I bought a copy of Windows 7 Professional through some college student discount thing that Microsoft does. I installed it on my computer, but then when one of the parts broke, my dad made me send the entire thing back and bought a pre-built. I kept the key and didn't install it onto another computer, but I decided to install it on my laptop. It worked for like 1-2 weeks, but now it says that Windows can't activate because the key "has been blocked by Microsoft." Why has it been blocked? I can't even talk to a Microsoft customer service person because the product ID I have deems me to be charged. It's pretty fucking stupid. Nothing I've looked at on the Microsoft forums has given me an answer to this, and I don't understand why they would block this key. People install Windows on multiple computers with the same key all the time, so... wtf? I'd rather not have to reinstall W7 Home and lose all my stuff. D; Anyone know anything about this?

One PC per license. Or supposed to be.

I don't know why they blocked you.

Yeah there was an uproar when Microsoft introduced hardware detection to prevent installing the same Windows on multiple computers. It think they did it with XP first, but maybe Vista?

Anyways, when you change more than 1 or 2 components of your computer you'll have to call Microsoft customer service. They should unlock this Windows copy for your new PC.

As per others, it sounds like you need to ring Microsoft customer service to get them to unlock the copy so it will work on your laptop.

There are two ways this could go: they notice that you're installing on a laptop, compared to your previous desktop, and therefore refuse to activate it. Or they just activate it.

I think you are more likely to have it simply activated than not, for several reasons:
- The people doing this are in a call-centre, and may not necessarily have detailed information about the computers that the copy is being installed on
- This system is mainly in place to stop mass piracy on a large scale, so in 1-off cases like yours the system the call centre person is using may just accept the change and ok it
- Microsoft want the procedure to cost them the minimum of money and also want to minimize customer frustration

So basically it's up to you. The phone call shouldn't last any more than 5 minutes.

I should add that I have actually done this, although it was with an OEM copy of Vista and IIRC the phone call was free. But it wasn't any hassle, just read out the numbers, they did something with a computer system and it worked after that. I was installing it on a different computer, but the hardware was very similar make and model etc.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 19 2012, 12:16 am by Lanthanide.

There should be an activation over the phone option. I just did this last week when I reformatted my laptop. The code was validated at installation, but online validation failed. Type Activate Windows into the search bar and it's pretty self-explanatory from there.

I tried the automated phone service thing, but it said, "Sorry, your key could not be activated at this time," or something along those lines. :\

The college student discount program gives you an OEM key.

OEM keys work on one computer only, bound by motherboard.