HP Sold Me PC with Invalid Windows 7 or at Least An Invalid Windows Product Key and Product ID

[NYCRob62]

I purchased this PC in July 2011 and it is out of warranty.  After months of being badgered to upgrade to Windows 10 I decided to do so but rather than upgrading I did a clean install since the laptop was working poorly.  I read on Microsoft's site that one could do this as long as they have the Windows Product Key for Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 which was already installed on the machine.  I wrote that down along with the Windows ID (different number).  

I upgraded by downloading Windows 10 to a thumb drive and then installing.  Seemed to work fine (I believe I entered my Product ID in the process).  Now, several weeks later I"m getting a message that I need to "activate windows."  I called MIcrosoft after it failed to activate using the IDs I have and after 30 minutes on the phone they told me that both my Windows Product ID and my Windows Product Key are "invalid."  I'd like to call HP and get this sorted out - I have the original order number and Microsoft said that is all I would need for HP to help me - but I'm out of warranty and they apparently won't help me unless I pay them $60.  Another alternative is to buy a new copy of Windows 10 and pay MIcrosoft some money.  

I'm outraged because I'm simply trying to do what Microsoft has been badgering me to do.  

BTW, the PC seems to work fine other than the message to activate windows.  I guess another option is to do nothing.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[WAWood]

NYCRob62

The problem you are having, with MS claiming the product key is invalid, is all too common -- and it is a problem with MS, not with HP.  For reasons that MS will not make clear, they sometimes lock up OEM keys so they won't work to activate Win10.  HP can NOT fix this, as it is NOT an HP problem -- it is MS making excuses for the faulty operation of their Activation servers.

I had this happen to me, and I even had the IDIOTS at MS tell me that I could not activate Win10 using a Win7 product key!!

What worked in my case was restoring the original OS and following these instructions from the community Win10 forums for generating an XML key file:  Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First - Windows 10 Forums

When I booted into my Win10 upgrade, it too, told me my key was invalid -- but since I had the genuineticket.xml file, I was able to use it to activate Win10.  And it's worked fine, ever since.

Good Luck

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[NYCRob62]

Thanks. Everything seems to work fine as is other than the message that I need to activate. I'm not excited about going back to Windows 7, then upgrading and then having to reinstall everything. And it isn't even clear it will work. Anyone else have experience with MS claiming a HP Windows key isn't valid?

[IT_WinSec]

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@NYCRob62 wrote:
Thanks. Everything seems to work fine as is other than the message that I need to activate. I'm not excited about going back to Windows 7, then upgrading and then having to reinstall everything. And it isn't even clear it will work. Anyone else have experience with MS claiming a HP Windows key isn't valid?

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Hello,

Thank you for posting in the HP Support forum.

Let's clarify some things - HP did not sell invalid Windows 7 keys or licence. I am afraid you made some mistake.

So, the upgrade from previous Windows version to new one is free as long as you *upgade*. During the upgrade, Windows 10 gets the Win 7 key and activates Windows 10 using a new method called Digital Entitlement. More information:

>> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10

Digital entitlement does not require keys.

Since you performed clean installation, you actually never upgraded, therefore no Digital Entitlement.

Instead you used Win 10 ISO from the net (retail installation ISO) and it now asks for a product key which is specific for new installation of Windows 10. You have an OEM key for Windows 7 from HP - this key cannot work for retail installation of Windows 10.

Your ways to fix this:

1) purchase new key from Microsoft web site based on the edition you installed and use this key to activate the existing installation

or

2) use HP recovery media (USB pen drive or DVDs) and return back to Windows 7.  If at some point you decide to install Win 10, you need to perform Upgrade installation which starts from inside Windows 7 using Win 10 ISO from the net or via Windows Update. But, I'd recommend you stick to Windows 7 which is great, stable and supported till year 2020. In Win 7 you can stop the Microsoft nagging about Win 10 and auto upgrade using >this free tool<

You can obtain HP recovery media by either following these instructions:

>> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07143

or by contacting HP support >> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

2.1 ) Once you receive the recovery media, please follow these steps to recover your computer >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01867418

Option 2 is a lot cheaper than option 1. However, it is your own choice.

Please, let me know if I can assist you further.

[WAWood]

Actually, YES -- an HP OEM key can be used to activate a clean-install of Win10 to a PC which never had Win10 on it previously.

How do I know?

Because I did that for my HP DV6 laptop.

The details for doing this are explained in this Win10 community forums post: Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First - Windows 10 Forums

[NYCRob62]

But it didn't work when I entered the key after the clean install of Windows 10. Actually it seemed to work fine initially but later I got a message that I had to activate Windows 10 and I wasn't able to do it from the PC nor based on a phone call with Microsoft. That is when I was told I had an invalid key from HP. So I'm left confused as to whether I did the right thing or not but in any case I'm getting this message that I need to activate it although I thought I had done so at the point I upgraded it. Any further thoughts?

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @NYCRob62

In order to fix the issue now you need to perform the steps mentioned above in my previous post.

I am afraid you did the procedure wrong. It didn't work because the Win 7 OEM key for your computer was not used and Windows 10 cannot be activated via Digital Entitlement , it now seaks a way to activate it via key.

Please, follow Option 1 or Option 2 to fix the issue. Do not hesitate to post again if something is not clear.

[NYCRob62]

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.  I've read everything and now have some questions.

First, I have been using my clean install of Windows 10 for several weeks even though it has a message on the bottom right of my screen stating “Activate Windows   Go to Settings to activate Windows.”  Since that process doesn’t want to accept my windows 7 key, I haven’t done so successfully.  Nonetheless, the PC seems to work fine.  What problems will result if I never activate?

Second, based on the earlier responses I wanted to recover Windows 7 and then upgrade to – rather than clean install – Windows 10.  But I never created a set of recovery disks or recovery USB while running Windows 7.  I did have the files from the F partition of the hard drive from before the upgrade saved to a backup drive and I have put them back on the hard drive in a new F partition.  But when I restart the computer and press the fn and F11 keys either repeatedly or holding them upon startup, the PC still starts up in Windows 10.  With the files from the recovery drive from the original PC, is there a way to recover the original settings or do I need to order a set of recovery disks from HP?

Third, if the answer to the second item is “no,” then is it still possible to do another clean install using the process referred to by WAWood - http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-Sold-Me-PC-with-Invalid-Windo...?  When I did the original Windows 10 clean install I simply entered my product key and that apparently didn’t work.  Is there any way for me to still create the GenuineTicket.xml and do another clean install or is it simply too late now?

Fourth, if the answer to the third item is “no,” ordering the recovery media from HP would seem to be the only way to get back to Windows 7; is that correct?  That approach seems to cost about $30 which is less than just buying Windows 10 but also will require me to then upgrade and hope the process works.

Thanks again.

Rob

[IT_WinSec]

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@NYCRob62 wrote:

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.  I've read everything and now have some questions.

First, I have been using my clean install of Windows 10 for several weeks even though it has a message on the bottom right of my screen stating “Activate Windows   Go to Settings to activate Windows.”  Since that process doesn’t want to accept my windows 7 key, I haven’t done so successfully.  Nonetheless, the PC seems to work fine.  What problems will result if I never activate?

> Hi Rob,

It will eventually stop working, certain features will cease working properly like very limited functions, you may not be allowed to login unless you activate, you may not be using the OS legally because as per the End User License agreement and MS legal stuff, you are OK as long as you are properly licensed and activated.

Second, based on the earlier responses I wanted to recover Windows 7 and then upgrade to – rather than clean install – Windows 10.  But I never created a set of recovery disks or recovery USB while running Windows 7.  I did have the files from the F partition of the hard drive from before the upgrade saved to a backup drive and I have put them back on the hard drive in a new F partition.  But when I restart the computer and press the fn and F11 keys either repeatedly or holding them upon startup, the PC still starts up in Windows 10.  With the files from the recovery drive from the original PC, is there a way to recover the original settings or do I need to order a set of recovery disks from HP?

> No, I am afraid it is not that simple as just replacing the files back.

Third, if the answer to the second item is “no,” then is it still possible to do another clean install using the process referred to by WAWood - http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-Sold-Me-PC-with-Invalid-Windo...?  When I did the original Windows 10 clean install I simply entered my product key and that apparently didn’t work.  Is there any way for me to still create the GenuineTicket.xml and do another clean install or is it simply too late now?

> No, this is not possible at the moment.

Fourth, if the answer to the third item is “no,” ordering the recovery media from HP would seem to be the only way to get back to Windows 7; is that correct? 

> You can also purchase Windows 10 directly from Microsoft, or purchase Windows 7, 8.1 or whatever Windows you prefer but that would be a lot more expensive. The HP recovery media is about 30$  from what I know. You are not required to upgrade to Windows 10, you can use Win 7 as long as you want. It will receive free updates from MS until year 2020.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 later - you can. If you decide so, you can read the official HP article with some instructions and tips >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04730900   

But this your last "problem" now. You need to first install an operating system to make it happen or directly purchase Windows 10.

Please, read the initial suggestions by me above and follow the step that best works for you.

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[NYCRob62]

Thanks. One final question. If I get the recovery disk and reinstall Windows 7 won't I be offered a free upgrade to Windows 10? That would seem far cheaper than buying the Windows 10 directly. Or am I missing something?