Overclock.net › Forums › Software, Programming and Coding › Operating Systems › Windows › Windows 7 activation hardware upgrade rules?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Windows 7 activation hardware upgrade rules?

post #1 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:36am
Thread Starter 
Hi All, first time poster here.

What are the rules with Windows 7 activation??
After activating a OEM copy Windows 7 what are the type of components that can be changed / upgraded without effecting the License?
Parts like the Motherboard, CPU, PSU, DVD drive, HSF, Case fans, or even the Case itself. Also how many major components can I replaced with out Microsoft blocking further Activations of the same OEM copy of Windows 7 at a future date?
Also, I did hear or read somewhere ( I cant remember where ) that even updating the motherboards BIOS can effect the Windows License. Anybody know if this is true?
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:41am
No matter what you do, you can call them and have them reset the license key and you will be able to activate/reinstall at any time.
Bare Essentials
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-930 @ 4.0 GHz ASUS P6X58D Premium MSI 6950 2 GB CFX (shaders unlocked) Corsair XMS3 8 GB (4GB x2) 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD Win7 Home Premium 64 bit Samsung S27A950D OCN Ducky (Browns) 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Ultra X3 1000W CoolerMaster HAF X CoolerMaster Storm Spawn Puretrak Talent 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Bare Essentials
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-930 @ 4.0 GHz ASUS P6X58D Premium MSI 6950 2 GB CFX (shaders unlocked) Corsair XMS3 8 GB (4GB x2) 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD Win7 Home Premium 64 bit Samsung S27A950D OCN Ducky (Browns) 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Ultra X3 1000W CoolerMaster HAF X CoolerMaster Storm Spawn Puretrak Talent 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:41am
  • Joined: Mar 2007
  • Location: Winnebago, IL
  • Posts: 3,570
  • Rep: 208 (Unique: 186)
  • Folding Team Rank: 210
  •  
    Name Team Rank Points / May Work Units / May
    aroc91 210 13,619,854 / 547,624 8,217 / 133
     
  • Select All Posts By This User
Quote:
Originally Posted by angel_dust View Post
Hi All, first time poster here.

What are the rules with Windows 7 activation??
After activating a OEM copy Windows 7 what are the type of components that can be changed / upgraded without effecting the License?
Parts like the Motherboard, CPU, PSU, DVD drive, HSF, Case fans, or even the Case itself. Also how many major components can I replaced with out Microsoft blocking further Activations of the same OEM copy of Windows 7 at a future date?
Also, I did hear or read somewhere ( I cant remember where ) that even updating the motherboards BIOS can effect the Windows License. Anybody know if this is true?
Why on earth would you even consider the bolded ones? Your OS can't magically detect whether you've changed those... with the exception of the DVD drive, but that's not an integral component.

I've switched motherboards and CPU's with no problems, so I'm not sure what would set it off. I've updated my BIOS with no problems too.

Edit: Ah, OEM. Yes, that's tied to the motherboard. Nothing a call to MS shouldn't fix, however.
Edited by aroc91 - 8/30/10 at 9:45am
My System
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q9300 @ 3.1 GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3LR MSI GTX 560 Ti  2x2GB OCZ + 2x1GB Corsair XMS2 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
300GB WD + 1TB WD AC Freezer 7 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit Sceptre 24" + ASUS 20" 
PowerCase
BFG 650W Apevia X-Navigator 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
My System
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q9300 @ 3.1 GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3LR MSI GTX 560 Ti  2x2GB OCZ + 2x1GB Corsair XMS2 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
300GB WD + 1TB WD AC Freezer 7 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit Sceptre 24" + ASUS 20" 
PowerCase
BFG 650W Apevia X-Navigator 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:41am
I believe the oem licence is tied to the motherboard, so in theroy you can changed things like the hard drive, cpu, ram and case....

Though as said above, the os cant detect whether you change things like your case or not!

Hope this helps
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:42am
the only change to be worried about is motherboard as the licence is tied to it, any other hardware changes wont block the key but may require reactivation which is simple enough to do
Silverstone TJ-666
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD FX-8320 Black Edition Gigbyte GA-990FXA-UD7 Powercolor HD7950 2X4GB Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz ... 
Hard DriveHard DriveOSMonitor
Crucial M4 SSD Western Digital 1TB Green Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64 bit Samsung T240 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Ducky Overclock.net Edition - DK9008G2 Pro Brown  Corsair TX-750 Silverstone TJ-07 Revoltec Flightmouse Elite 
Mouse PadAudio
Cyborg G.L.I.D.E. 7 Steelseries H4 headphone 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Silverstone TJ-666
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD FX-8320 Black Edition Gigbyte GA-990FXA-UD7 Powercolor HD7950 2X4GB Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz ... 
Hard DriveHard DriveOSMonitor
Crucial M4 SSD Western Digital 1TB Green Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64 bit Samsung T240 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Ducky Overclock.net Edition - DK9008G2 Pro Brown  Corsair TX-750 Silverstone TJ-07 Revoltec Flightmouse Elite 
Mouse PadAudio
Cyborg G.L.I.D.E. 7 Steelseries H4 headphone 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #6 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:43am
there's the "what is the rules according to the EULA on OEM" and what you can do.

IN THEORY, the OEM Key is tied to the major hardware components (Motherboard, CPU).

In practice, many people use an OEM key similar to retail key and just call MS to reset its activation.
Day[9] Made Me Do it
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i7 2700k Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z eVGA GTX 670 FTW 16 gb G.Skill Ripjaw 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 256 GB Samsung Bluray DVD+/-RW Corsair H80 Windows 7 Ultimate x64 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Dell Ultrasharp U2711 Filco Majestouch Linear R Limited Edition OCZ ZX850 Cooler Master Storm Trooper 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Razer Naga Epic Razer Vespula Creative Titanium HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Day[9] Made Me Do it
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i7 2700k Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z eVGA GTX 670 FTW 16 gb G.Skill Ripjaw 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 256 GB Samsung Bluray DVD+/-RW Corsair H80 Windows 7 Ultimate x64 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Dell Ultrasharp U2711 Filco Majestouch Linear R Limited Edition OCZ ZX850 Cooler Master Storm Trooper 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Razer Naga Epic Razer Vespula Creative Titanium HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:44am
Changing video cards can affect the activation. If the SLIC is imprinted in the bios then flashing will affect activation. cpu might ,psu,cd/dvd,hsf,fans and case will have no affect.
HERPADERPADERP
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Core2Quad Q9550 E0 3.612ghz @ 1.256v 49Gflops EVGA 790I FTW Digital 8800GT SC EVGA GTX560TI SC 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
2x2gb Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3 1600 @ 9-11-11-24 1t 2x 1TB Seagate Surveillance Samsung Super Write Master Sunbeam CCTF 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Ultimate 22" LG Flatron W2253VP NMB RT101+ (Space Invader) OCZ StealthXStream 600w 
Case
CM 690 II 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
HERPADERPADERP
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Core2Quad Q9550 E0 3.612ghz @ 1.256v 49Gflops EVGA 790I FTW Digital 8800GT SC EVGA GTX560TI SC 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
2x2gb Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3 1600 @ 9-11-11-24 1t 2x 1TB Seagate Surveillance Samsung Super Write Master Sunbeam CCTF 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Ultimate 22" LG Flatron W2253VP NMB RT101+ (Space Invader) OCZ StealthXStream 600w 
Case
CM 690 II 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Satans_Hell View Post
I believe the oem licence is tied to the motherboard, so in theroy you can changed things like the hard drive, cpu, ram and case....

Though as said above, the os cant detect whether you change things like your case or not!

Hope this helps
+1 This is correct. Although the OS cannot detect changes ect, if you do change your mobo out theres a chance you will need to reinstall due to boot errors and other abnormalities. Happened to me the other week on a clients PC.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:53am
Hi angel dust,

The P/S case won't chnage anything. Adding ram will require a reactivation as will a cpu change and mobo. I don't know about hd unless it is the OS drive then most likely. I know for a fact a change of ram will cause you to have to reacitvate as I had to when I upgraded to 8 gig from 4 gig.
I7......Core Value
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
I7 2600K Asus P8Z68 V pro GEN3 MSI TFIII R6950 G-Skill 12800 1600 8 gig 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Seagate 1.5 Tbyte Barracuda LG Bluray burner and MSI DVD burner Windows 7 HP 64 Philips 6704/D7 42" 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech MK 710 Corsair HX 750 CoolerMaster HAF 932 Logitech Pro Wave wireless 
AudioOther
Onkyo HB 6200 Crucial M4 64 gig SSD for IRST Caching 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
I7......Core Value
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
I7 2600K Asus P8Z68 V pro GEN3 MSI TFIII R6950 G-Skill 12800 1600 8 gig 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Seagate 1.5 Tbyte Barracuda LG Bluray burner and MSI DVD burner Windows 7 HP 64 Philips 6704/D7 42" 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech MK 710 Corsair HX 750 CoolerMaster HAF 932 Logitech Pro Wave wireless 
AudioOther
Onkyo HB 6200 Crucial M4 64 gig SSD for IRST Caching 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #10 of 14
8/30/10 at 9:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by preachp View Post
Adding ram will require a reactivation as will a cpu change and mobo. I don't know about hd unless it is the OS drive then most likely. I know for a fact a change of ram will cause you to have to reacitvate as I had to when I upgraded to 8 gig from 4 gig.
I call BS. Why would OEMs make machines and then offer memory upgrades? That would be a headache for them.
It plays TF2
(17 items)
 
Samsung Galaxy S2
(13 items)
 
Acer 5745PG
(6 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600k @ 3.4GHz Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 Inno3D GTX460 1GB Kingston HyperX 2x4/2x1GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveOS
Seagate 500GB 7200.12 Seagate 250GB 7200.10 Some LG that works properly Windows 7 Pro 64bit 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Arch Linux 64bit Samsung B2330h MS Comfort Curve 2000 CoolerMaster Silent Pro M600 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Coolermaster CM690II Advanced Logitech G500 CyberSnipa Something JVC RX700 
Audio
Onboard 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
1.2GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 Samsung Proprietary Mali-400MP 1GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
16GB Internal Storage 2GB SD Card 8MP camera  Air 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Android 4.0.3 4.3" 480x800 Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch... ICS keyboard 1650mAh Li-Ion battery 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i5 480m @ 2.66GHz GT420M 1GB 4GB DDR3 WD 750GB 
OSMonitor
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit 15" 1366x768 + two point touchscreen 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
It plays TF2
(17 items)
 
Samsung Galaxy S2
(13 items)
 
Acer 5745PG
(6 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600k @ 3.4GHz Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 Inno3D GTX460 1GB Kingston HyperX 2x4/2x1GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveOS
Seagate 500GB 7200.12 Seagate 250GB 7200.10 Some LG that works properly Windows 7 Pro 64bit 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Arch Linux 64bit Samsung B2330h MS Comfort Curve 2000 CoolerMaster Silent Pro M600 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Coolermaster CM690II Advanced Logitech G500 CyberSnipa Something JVC RX700 
Audio
Onboard 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
1.2GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 Samsung Proprietary Mali-400MP 1GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
16GB Internal Storage 2GB SD Card 8MP camera  Air 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Android 4.0.3 4.3" 480x800 Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch... ICS keyboard 1650mAh Li-Ion battery 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i5 480m @ 2.66GHz GT420M 1GB 4GB DDR3 WD 750GB 
OSMonitor
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit 15" 1366x768 + two point touchscreen 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Windows
Overclock.net › Forums › Software, Programming and Coding › Operating Systems › Windows › Windows 7 activation hardware upgrade rules?