MicroSosft Registration Rules.

[John 2]

For some time I have been experiencing occasional problems with my W 7 machine including the odd blue screen. The problems appear cyclic in that the symptoms come and go each in their turn. I'm about to try a fresh W7 installation but having eliminated most hardware problems by substitution (including a new system drive) I have come to the conclusion that the problem might be the motherboard. If it is and because I am using an OEM version of W7 Pro, technically I won't be able to re register the software on the new board. Does anybody know if under these circumstances, MS exercise some latitude and how this is achieved. Their Support site is now so automated that managing to talk to a human being is quite hard to achieve.

[Manfred M]

John - I swapped out a MB a couple of years ago on my Win 7 machine and it registered without any problems. So far as I know MS has relaxed the rules on the OEM software. After all MBs do go bad and need to be replaced and the original versions are not always available.

[tao2]

For some time I have been experiencing occasional problems with my W 7 machine including the odd blue screen. The problems appear cyclic in that the symptoms come and go each in their turn. I'm about to try a fresh W7 installation but having eliminated most hardware problems by substitution (including a new system drive) I have come to the conclusion that the problem might be the motherboard. If it is and because I am using an OEM version of W7 Pro, technically I won't be able to re register the software on the new board. Does anybody know if under these circumstances, MS exercise some latitude and how this is achieved. Their Support site is now so automated that managing to talk to a human being is quite hard to achieve.

Hi John,

A traveler stops this old Irish fella on the road and says" I'd like to get to Dublin". The old guy replies, "Well ah wouldn't have started from here"... In other words, the mboard should've been the start point.

No matter.

If ye built the system yerself - for yer own use, then ye can replace and register the mboard . It's all about MS and "end users". If the PC is the same and you are the builder then you're not the end user. If ye built the PC with OEM OS and sold it then the person who received it, is... the "end user". In that case, if the mboard is replaced then, in the past, or in some cases now, the PC is now recognised by MS as a "new" PC and a new OS is required.

Ye should be able tae register the PC (with new mboard, no problem). If ye have any install probs, simply call MS and tell them ye had tae replace the mboard. They'll re-enable the registration there and then or send ye a new code for registering.

Called my mate and he said that MS may have even relaxed those rules as ye can now replace any component (instead of their famous old "can do/can't do" list).

[John 2]

Thank you Manfred and Boab. That's what I needed to know. Boab, you're right about looking at the MB first but I guess since changing that means a bottom up build, I guess I avoided it until I had to. I want to get this sorted before I look at W10 as an option.

[James G]

John, Boab and Manfred have covered what I would have posted.
I think that Microsoft normally allow 3 rebuilds before you need to contact them to ask for registration. I've had to do this with a 'sandpit' system I use to test new software, upgrades, etc before I apply them to my main system. Apart from being a bit of a chore I had no problems getting the rebuild registered...

[DickyOZ]

John, I presume you take regular backups of your data files. If the problem is hardware then now would be a good time to take the free upgrade to Windows 10. The current version is stable fast and efficient. Check that your PC is compatible with W10 using the Windows 10 upgrade ICON in your system tray. Then download the Microsoft MediaCreationToolx64.exe (or the 32 bit version if your Win 7 is 32bit) and use it to create a Win 10 ISO on a USB stick. Provided you have the Product Key of your OEM Win 7 you can then replace the failed hardware and/or upgrade it and do a clean install of Win 10 by booting from the USB stick ISO. All legal and proper. Restore your backups and away you go.

[John 2]

Richard, thanks. That very useful on a number of levels. I backup both system and data files and for a while I thought that the problem was with the system SSD not having loaded W7 accurately during the build. Fortunately, my local supplier agreed and replaced drive under warranty but it hasn't cured the problem. But of course, I rebuilt the machine from backups and I guess I might just have re introduced the same problem via the backup (if that makes sense??). A clean build of W10 would eliminate or confirm that and since I have discovered that 1155 socket motherboards with the i/o set I need are now almost unavailable it would be a sensible step before I look elsewhere.. It would also give me an opportunity to look at W10 anyway. I am assuming BTW that when you say "booting from the USB stick" you men loading W10 onto a clean HD?

[DickyOZ]

I am assuming BTW that when you say "booting from the USB stick" you men loading W10 onto a clean HD?

You have to set the Boot device to be USB in the BIOS and the The PC will boot and install Win 10 form the USB stick. Select the options you want including including formatting the hard drive, if you haven't already done so, to remove all traces of your old Win 7 installation. You will be prompted for the Win 7 product key at some point.

Good luck, Dicky.

[John 2]

Thanks Richard. IOW, a normal install but from the USB stick. There is a way of using a USB stick as the system drive and I wondered if you were indicating that approach here. Clearly not.