[SuzanS]

Quote

SuzanS said

In your directions, you say that you might have to give the Microsoft rep the Product Key from Windows 8 to complete the installation.
Everything that I have read indicates that the Key is in the BIOS and that you can't get to it. Some ProduceID key finders work for some but not for others. Some sites say that the keys given are generic and are not correct.
I have my copy of Windows 7 ready to go but I am confused on this. What if I get 3/4 of the way through and it bombs? Then, the silly thing won't work at all.
What a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. Ugh


SusanS,
If you purchased a computer with Windows 8 already installed there will be a sticker on it somewhere with the product key, and of course your copy of Windows 7 that you purchased came with one. The product keys are hidden in the registry, not the BIOS, and there are some third-party utilities that can find them but, as you discovered, they're not all reliable. I've had good luck with Magical Jelly Bean:
http://www.magicalje....com/keyfinder/
Best of luck.

[SuzanS]

Quote

SuzanS said
In your directions, you say that you might have to give the Microsoft rep the Product Key from Windows 8 to complete the installation.
Everything that I have read indicates that the Key is in the BIOS and that you can't get to it. Some ProduceID key finders work for some but not for others. Some sites say that the keys given are generic and are not correct.
I have my copy of Windows 7 ready to go but I am confused on this. What if I get 3/4 of the way through and it bombs? Then, the silly thing won't work at all.
What a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. Ugh
SusanS,
If you purchased a computer with Windows 8 already installed there will be a sticker on it somewhere with the product key, and of course your copy of Windows 7 that you purchased came with one. The product keys are hidden in the registry, not the BIOS, and there are some third-party utilities that can find them but, as you discovered, they're not all reliable. I've had good luck with Magical Jelly Bean:
http://www.magicalje....com/keyfinder/
Best of luck.

Nope no sticker - I have two Win 8 PC's. No stickers. Your keyfinder works on some and not on others. According to everything I've read, it's the BIOS so if you mom board dies then you need to buy a new copy when you replace it.

I have been online for 3 hours doing research. I just came back from a chat with a Geek squad guy who said just go do it; it will work. I have a headache.

[SuzanS]

Quote

In your directions, you say that you might have to give the Microsoft rep the Product Key from Windows 8 to complete the installation.
Everything that I have read indicates that the Key is in the BIOS and that you can't get to it. Some ProduceID key finders work for some but not for others. Some sites say that the keys given are generic and are not correct.
I have my copy of Windows 7 ready to go but I am confused on this. What if I get 3/4 of the way through and it bombs? Then, the silly thing won't work at all.
What a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. Ugh

Well, here's an update 4 hours into things. Not onlyh did I not have to call Microsoft, the system didn't even ask me for the Win7 produce key. Was a bit worried about deleting all the partitions but since it wouldn't install Win7 on any of 'em I figured what the heck and blew them all away.

Right now we're downloading drivers on another PC so that we can get to the Internet. If we have problems we'll call Lenovo in the morning - everything is getting blurry.

[compnovo]

SuzanS, on 27 April 2013 - 03:18 PM, said:

Quote

SuzanS said
In your directions, you say that you might have to give the Microsoft rep the Product Key from Windows 8 to complete the installation.
Everything that I have read indicates that the Key is in the BIOS and that you can't get to it. Some ProduceID key finders work for some but not for others. Some sites say that the keys given are generic and are not correct.
I have my copy of Windows 7 ready to go but I am confused on this. What if I get 3/4 of the way through and it bombs? Then, the silly thing won't work at all.
What a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. Ugh
SusanS,
If you purchased a computer with Windows 8 already installed there will be a sticker on it somewhere with the product key, and of course your copy of Windows 7 that you purchased came with one. The product keys are hidden in the registry, not the BIOS, and there are some third-party utilities that can find them but, as you discovered, they're not all reliable. I've had good luck with Magical Jelly Bean:
http://www.magicalje....com/keyfinder/
Best of luck.

Nope no sticker - I have two Win 8 PC's. No stickers. Your keyfinder works on some and not on others. According to everything I've read, it's the BIOS so if you mom board dies then you need to buy a new copy when you replace it.

I have been online for 3 hours doing research. I just came back from a chat with a Geek squad guy who said just go do it; it will work. I have a headache.

When Windows installs it creates a "signature" of your system's hardware, and one of the key pieces is the motherboard. When you have an OEM version of Windows it's tied to the hardware and can't be transferred to another PC, which is why you have to buy a new copy one piece of the "signature" hardware fails (in this example, the motherboard). Retail and upgrade versions of Windows can be transferred to another PC, as long as they're installed on only one computer at a time.

Regarding the stickers, It sounds like something has changed with Win8 (my two Win8 desktops are home-built so don't have one on the case, the product keys came with the license). I'm glad you were able to get things sorted out.

This post has been edited by compnovo: 27 April 2013 - 08:53 PM

[waldojim]

Lenovo tends to place the product key under the battery, did you check there?

Also, without a product key, I would assume the license on that machine was NOT LEGAL. As Microsoft REQUIRES the license key be on the machine.

[dklimach]

Does anyone know if you have to have a Full-version of Windows 7 Pro to do this, or if you can just use a Windows 7 Pro Upgrade edition? Thanks