Windows 7 - Getting a genuine license in 2016

[Just]

Hello !

This thread does not try to be polemic or provocative in any extend. Criticising Microsoft licensing policy, complaining about planned obsolescence, comparing pluses and minuses of closed vs open source, none of that is my matter here. Neither finding a way to circumvent Windows activation procedure by some smart workaround.

This thread is all related to a difficulty I corned myself to : having got installed Windows 7 on a PC after the OS reached end of sales in late 2013, I do not know where to buy a genuine full licence from a reliable source in order to activate Windows on this machine. The machine is a PC built by myself ten years ago or so, which was used to run Linux alone as a HTPC. Recently I added Windows as a dual boot option.

A look at usual second hand sources, such as eBay (or Allegro in my market), did not help too much. It is all but obvious to navigate between the non relevant offers here, from probable Chinese copies to activation keys likely generated from volume licensing for education, including offers above $500 for a somehow genuine Windows box, which makes no sense to be spent on a OS whom main support ended by now. Here are a few examples of what I found :

Source : MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE SP1 32/64 BIT KEY (624258687) - Allegro.pl - Więcej niż aukcje.







Source : Scrap PC Laptop Dell HP With Windows 7 Ultimate 32 64 BIT COA License KEY | eBay







Source : Windows 7 Ultimate Deutsch Voller Microsoft Support Kein OEM MWST Rechnung 882224886413 | eBay

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I would be grateful to anybody who could give me a hand at purchasing a genuine Windows 7 license for that machine, direct me to good deals under the condition this is not a fraud.

A few words about the question "why Windows 7 and not 10".
When booting with Windows, that machine is exclusively used for light gaming with a few titles from the 2000's. I fear that jumping to 10 would provide more hassle than satisfaction. Plus I am not a big fan of telemetry and profiling as it happened to be the rule on W10.

Thanks for your advices.

 

[writhziden]

Can you buy through Amazon in your country?

As you mentioned, most support for Windows 7 has ended, and since you built the machine, you can buy an OEM license disc for ~$64.00 (US currency) on Amazon.com. OEM discs are generally used for system builders who do not need Microsoft support and provide their own support/troubleshooting for the system. Additionally, your OEM license will be tied to that one machine, so you cannot (easily) transfer it to another system later on.

 

[Digerati]

First, I applaud you for wanting to do this the legal way. I wish everyone were this honest.

But first,

Plus I am not a big fan of telemetry and profiling as it happened to be the rule on W10.

Don't buy into all that falsified, blown way out of proportion hype. Your ISP knows way more about you than Microsoft does. Your ISP knows your real name, the physical location where you connect to their network which is probably your street address, plus everything you do on your computer, and more.

If you have a cell phone, your carrier knows even more than that! A lot more. It knows your real name, your billing address, and everything you do on your cell phone, including those you talk to or text. But not only that, your phone carrier knows within a few yards, where you are physically standing :eek4: including what aisle of what store you are in! They know where you've been and what direction you are heading, and even how fast you are traveling.

The best Microsoft knows (unless you have a Windows phone) is your POP (point of presence). In my case, that is 10 miles away in the next town over.

And do NOT confuse privacy with security. Microsoft is NOT trying to steal your passwords, access your bank accounts, learn your contacts and appointments, gain remote control of your computer, or infect your computer with malware in any way. In fact, Windows 10 protects you better from all those "security" threats better than any previous version of Windows.

****

Now back to your problem. Do NOT go with any "branded" disk. These are OEM disks that come with factory made computers. Many are not just branded on the printed disk, but the code on the disks have been modified to look for, and install on systems from that maker only. In other words, if the disk says Dell on it, there's a good chance it will only install on a system using a Dell "branded" motherboard.

And to that, your link shows a picture of a "Lenovo", but the description says "Dell HP". So that raises all sorts of red flags for me.

It might help if you told us what country you live in.

Additionally, your OEM license will be tied to that one machine, so you cannot (easily) transfer it to another system later on.

Actually, you can "easily", just not "legally". And that's part of the problem here, otherwise you could probably find someone who recently bought a new computer and then buy their old copy of Windows. But since the vast majority of old Windows are likely OEM, thus tied to their old computers, you cannot "legally" install them on your new machine. The software must, by the terms of the EULA, stay with the "o"riginal "e"quipment.

Only full "retail" licenses can be transferred to a different computer and different own - AS LONG AS any previous installed copy is uninstalled.

 

[Just]

Hello !

Thanks for your comprehensive answers and for wanting to give me a hand on that issue. First I address your questions :

Can you buy through Amazon in your country?

I did it a few times. Depending on the the third party vendors oversea shipping might not be offered, this is the only limitation I faced.

It might help if you told us what country you live in.

Well, I thought that the screen pictures which I posted and the auctions site which I quoted might have given together a clue about my country of residency :thumbsup2: Poland is located in eastern Europe, quite close to Russia.

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Since you built the machine, you can buy an OEM license disc for ~$64.00 (US currency) on Amazon.com.

It sounds like the option I would prefer to go to. Are OEM genuine license disc still actually available ? Microsoft ended sales in late 2013; are such offers genuine ?

Only full "retail" licenses can be transferred to a different computer and different owner

Sure. I cannot buy an OEM licence from second hand. I can only buy a "retail" / "full" license from second hand. My points are :

• @ writhziden ; about the offers which you found on Amazon, were the OEM discs new ? May you give me a direct link, which you think is not a fraud ? Remember that I got installed Ultimate, and should buy that flavour.

• Alternatively, did someone may help me to find a second hand retail license at a reasonable price (i.e. closer to $50 than $500) ?

Do NOT go with any "branded" disk.

Sure.

your link shows a picture of a "Lenovo", but the description says "Dell HP". So that raises all sorts of red flags for me.

For me too. With such a link I illustrated the kind of rubbish offers which are the rule more that the exception on auctions sites such as eBay.

And that's part of the problem here, otherwise you could probably find someone who recently bought a new computer and then buy their old copy of Windows.

Yes, I cannot reuse an OEM license, I understand. What is about volume license for corporations ? Assuming that an IT manager would accept to consider my personal PC as a piece of its inventory, could we take advantage of volume licensing to activate Windows on my machine ?

Only full "retail" licenses can be transferred to a different computer and different own

If I cannot find a genuine non second hand OEM license, I will go that way. Availability is my concern here. I would appreciate direct links to offers available online.

Regards.

 

[Digerati]

Well, I thought that the screen pictures which I posted and the auctions site which I quoted might have given together a clue about my country of residency Poland is located in eastern Europe, quite close to Russia.

Well, if I could read Polish I might have picked up on it better. And for sure, I know exactly where Poland is. I spend a lot of time in Germany when I was in the military.

Yes, I cannot reuse an OEM license, I understand. What is about volume license for corporations ? Assuming that an IT manager would accept to consider my personal PC as a piece of its inventory, could we take advantage of volume licensing to activate Windows on my machine ?

I would say that would only be legal if you were an employee of (or perhaps an official contractor for) that company. I am sure you could otherwise "get away with it" if you had a friend who was an IT Manager and he gave up one of his license. But you can get away with all sorts of licensing terms, including reusing OEM licenses - that still does make it legal. You will have to let your conscience be your guide there.

 

[Karalum]

I used here before : Buy Windows 7 Professional CD KEY Compare Prices

 

[Digerati]

That site does not look legal to me.

 

[xilolee]

Hi Just.:smile9:

You can check ebay.it - RETAIL Key Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Multi Lingue. ORIGINALE FATTURABILE (click)

Available: other windows 7 versions (and not only windows 7)
Price: euro 47,90 (buy now, but you can make an offer)
Conditions: new and not used, without CD/DVD
User: keygen-informatica (Italy), signed up: 05 September 2010, professional seller, top reliability, 100% feedback: 2 neutral

(You can ask questions to ebay users before you buy something)

:wave:

 

[Just]

Hi everybody !

Thanks for your comment, Digirati, and for the sensible offer you found on eBay.it, Xilolee !

You will have to let your conscience be your guide there.

Well, let me explain my feeling about the do's and don'ts here.

I was still a student in PhD when a Microsoft marketing manager got invited for a lecture at my university. You can guess it was many years ago, at a time when Linux was nowhere. The manager described quite straightly a few of the many tricks in use at Microsoft for making corporate clients have no other option but to buy all the next updates - as soon as they were released, for all the products they bought already. Definitely the lecture was sensible and interesting, as it described the marketing under the hood for what it is: a set of practices which makes possible to restrain the free choice of purchaser and secure as much as possible the future turnover of the seller.

The lecture had another consequence on me : it built about Microsoft an image of an unfriendly business. The feeling might have been stronger at a time when as many students, freedom was for me the value to bid on. Unfortunately, the feeling got strengthened further later on, with the many legal procedures (both in the States and later in the U.E.) introduced against Microsoft as a response to its monopolistic abuse in business.

Putting it straightly and quickly on the table, Microsoft is not the company I wanted to give my money to, as a private person.


That being said, why buying a license key for my Windows 7 Ultimate now, and wanting to do this the legal way ?

I would say, this is because of you at sysnative, guys, who provide such a great support to end users. As MVPs, you made the choice to enter the landscape of proprietary software many years ago, you invested a lot of time at coding features, fixing problems, enhancing knowledge. Now you deliver free of charge support to end users with all the entangled issues we may face with the Microsoft's OS. You are part of the Microsoft business system, then you expect from users to play fair as well with Microsoft. i.e. with you too. That is all fine. I was impressed by your dissertation about licensing rules in another thread, Digirati; it was all clean and logical. I agree with your point of view. Expecting support from you at sysnative makes me not possible to defer further the activation of the copy of Windows I installed already.

These are the points which may make my conscience to be my guide here.

You can check ebay.it - RETAIL Key Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Multi Lingue. ORIGINALE FATTURABILE (click)

​

The offer is attractive. Retail license at sensible price is exactly what I was looking for. A few more questions before buying :

• how to asses furthermore that the offered license is legal, despite that it is sold with no DVD and looks like a bargain ?

• assuming this is all legal as claimed in the offer, which kind of sales channel the seller belongs to ?

• what is the magic behind selling in mid 2016 a new retail license without DVD, with Microsoft having ended sales in late 2013 ?

Well, if I could read Polish I might have picked up on it better. And for sure, I know exactly where Poland is. I spend a lot of time in Germany when I was in the military.

Sorry for having written pedantically about my localisation. This is obvious that you know where Poland is. However, I would not asses this is true from everybody without giving a look at a map.

Cheers.

 

[xilolee]

The offer is attractive. Retail license at sensible price is exactly what I was looking for. A few more questions before buying :

• how to asses furthermore that the offered license is legal, despite that it is sold with no DVD and looks like a bargain ?
• assuming this is all legal as claimed in the offer, which kind of sales channel the seller belongs to ?
• what is the magic behind selling in mid 2016 a new retail license without DVD, with Microsoft having ended sales in late 2013 ?

I think the seller could respond to your questions better than me.

 

[Digerati]

The manager described quite straightly a few of the many tricks in use at Microsoft for making corporate clients have no other option but to buy all the next updates - as soon as they were released, for all the products they bought already.

Except it wasn't true. That is, corporate clients (and private consumers) did indeed have the option to NOT upgrade - and many didn't. This was a major factor in why XP stuck around for so long.

It is interesting that you noted it was a "marketing" manager - because the marketing department at Microsoft has a long history of trying to force users to upgrade, but failed. They also have a long history of marketing blunders like the Outreach Teams they employed to spam - yes spam tech support forums with obvious ploys meant NOT to help users with their tech support problems, but to market MS products. It caused a huge backlash among users, forum staff and Microsoft MVPs.

Note that Windows 7, still, by a large margin has the lion's share of the market at close to 50% because Microsoft's marketing weenies failed miserably to convince users to upgrade to Windows 8 - which only has less than 2.5% market share while XP is still sitting around 10% globally. And W10, even though a better OS than W7, is still lagging W7 in large part because of poor marketing tactics.

The sad part is Microsoft really does make some top-notch software in spite of a few missteps like WindowsMe, Vista, W8. W8 was actually a great OS but failed because the marketing department insisted W8's UI look like Windows Phone UI. They were convinced computer users would automatically want to give up their old reliable desktops and start menus and flock to W8 and Windows Phones - yet both W8 and Windows Phones are marketing failures.

As MVPs, you made the choice to enter the landscape of proprietary software many years ago

What? That's a bunch of BS and it's pretty clear you really don't know what the MS MVP program is about. I sure didn't get my MVP for the last 10 years promoting or supporting any Microsoft products. I got mine for helping folks with their hardware and networking problems - regardless the operating system they use. Most of the MVPs around here got their MVPs for helping folks with their security problems. I don't and never have done any programming, except a basic BASIC course in college over 25 years ago.

Proprietary software? That's really Apple's game not Microsoft's. Apple makes software to run on Apple hardware only! Microsoft makes software to run on Intel, AMD, Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI and even Apple hardware. Ever heard of Azure? Apparently not. It is all about supporting open source software.

You are part of the Microsoft business system

:mad7: Frankly, that's insulting. I don't and never have worked for Microsoft. I am not obligated to promote any Microsoft product. I can and I do bash Microsoft at will - when deserved as I just did above with no risk of consequences (as long as I tell the truth).

Yes, Microsoft would like MVPs to promote MS products but we are under no obligation or expectation to do so. They do not pull our strings and I would venture to say nearly every MVP on this site would forfeit their award if Microsoft attempted to do so. And note I said "award" because that is what it is - an award recognizing us for helping consumers with their computer problems over the PAST year.

My objection to not obtaining software legally is because (putting it straightly and quickly on the table) it is stealing! Plain and simple. And I don't like thieves. Stealing software is the same as shoplifting from a store - it results in increased prices for the rest of us.

IF there were no alternatives, I might be a bit more sympathetic. But you can always go with "propriety" software from Apple and buy a Mac and pay a lot more! Or you can go with all free, open source software and not use any Microsoft products.

Putting it straightly and quickly on the table, Microsoft is not the company I wanted to give my money to, as a private person.

That's fine! I respect that decision and will defend your right to it. But that does NOT give you the right to steal their software! :shame2:

 

[niemiro]

The offer is attractive. Retail license at sensible price is exactly what I was looking for. A few more questions before buying :

• how to asses furthermore that the offered license is legal, despite that it is sold with no DVD and looks like a bargain ?
• assuming this is all legal as claimed in the offer, which kind of sales channel the seller belongs to ?
• what is the magic behind selling in mid 2016 a new retail license without DVD, with Microsoft having ended sales in late 2013 ?

Please see the following link for more details: Buying Legitimate Microsoft Products on ebay | eBay

Microsoft strictly forbid the sale of retail licence keys without their disks. Only on preinstalled OEM computers with recovery partitions or in very specific circumstances can there be no disk.

This listing is a scam. It is neither legal nor genuine.

 

[Just]

Hi Digerati,
Hi Niemiro,

This listing is a scam. It is neither legal nor genuine.

The written answer received from the "Italian" seller (who knows who is behind ?) confirms your statement : they "do not deliver any CD, DVD or COA", they only "post by email a key and a link" for downloading a disc image. In such circumstances, eBay states this is a fake :

If the seller says there is no COA, do not bid on or purchase the item, and inform the seller that it is illegal to sell the item the way it is listed. Consider reporting this to ebay and Microsoft, as well.

That being said, knowing for sure what to not purchase does not make obvious what to purchase. Where may I possibly find an affordable and genuine Windows 7 Ultimate retail license as second hand, or a brand new OEM license at lower price, which would neither be a counterfeited DVD nor a scam ?

IF there were no alternatives, I might be a bit more sympathetic. [SNIP] My objection to not obtaining software legally is because (putting it straightly and quickly on the table) it is stealing!

As far as a legal offer exists there is no valid pretext at looking for a workaround. We agree on the ethics. However, I am still seeking for a sensible offer to be actually available on eBay or somewhere else. Up to now all the auctions we found revealed to be not legal.

Frankly, that's insulting. I don't and never have worked for Microsoft.

Please forgive me if you felt insulted by a few of my words, it was not the direction I wanted to go. In case I may have implied a personal negative statement according to you, please consider it as a likely misinterpretation. I did not imply that you are used to support all and every course of action at Microsoft; I rather inferred that the useful support you deliver free of charge to end users is beneficial to Microsoft too. In that sense, MVPs look like being part of the Microsoft "business world", according to me. BTW, you are right, I may have misunderstood who MVPs are, not being myself so much involved in the Microsoft users community; thank you for the additional light you gave about your work as MVP.

It is interesting that you noted it was a "marketing" manager - because the marketing department at Microsoft has a long history of trying to force users to upgrade, but failed. They also have a long history of marketing blunders [SNIP]

I give you the point, the marketing department does not represents the actions of all the other employees of the company. As I do not want to guide the thread to a controversy, let me say no more than that : likely the marketing people do things with the somehow approval of the company which they work at.

 

[Digerati]

I rather inferred that the useful support you deliver free of charge to end users is beneficial to Microsoft too.

But that is really by happenstance. I help people with their computer problems and that is what the MVP program recognizes us for. But because Microsoft just happens to be the developer of Windows which just happens to be used on the vast majority of personal computers, it benefits Microsoft too. And I note, BTW, in spite of the efforts of the marketing department and bean counters, Microsoft makes some very good products, or else they would not be what they are today. I promote the use of Windows Defender, for example, not because it is Microsoft or because it is not McAfee. I promote it because it works, it is easy to use, does not add bloat, and users already have it.

I also really like Gigabyte motherboards, Intel processors, Samsung monitors and SSDs, and Crucial RAM. But I also help folks with ASUS motherboards, AMD processors, Benq monitors, etc. But none of those companies run the Microsoft MVP program. I am also a Newegg EggXspert and I like Newegg, but I promote buying from Amazon too.

You are correct that displaying our Microsoft MVP status gives the "appearance" to some we are part of the Microsoft, but I assure you, we are not. In fact, if you look at FAQ #5: Do MVPs represent Microsoft?

A5: No. MVPs are not Microsoft employees, nor do they speak on Microsoft's behalf. MVPs are independent third-party individuals who have received an award from Microsoft that recognizes their exceptional achievements in technical communities.

"...achievements in technical communities", not with any Microsoft product or service.

Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Just]

Thanks to everybody for the support you gave at seeking over the Web for a Windows 7 genuine license. For half a year after the thread got started, we have not been finding one single affordable offer fulfilling Microsoft's requirements (i.e. including physical DVD and Certificate of Authenticity). All eBay vendors who were asked answered that licence key is provided alone, which demonstrate theses are no legal sales according to the many comments written earlier in the thread.

Thanks to a generous donator here at sysnative, I got for free by private mail a retail Windows Ultimate license. This is a fantastic gesture from him and I thank Tom very much once again for it. I stand by him for being safe at activating my Windows with a genuine Microsoft license. In that particular case, my issue is fixed in a positive way.

However, thinking about what the situation might have been without the support of such a donator, for me or for anyone wanting to activate Windows 7 in 2016 and staying legal, it looks deceptive. On one side, there are the official statements about the do's and don'ts backed by Microsofts' licensing terms; on the other side, there is the crude practice, which makes a legal license unavailable. At least we failed until now to found where to buy it.

I wish that other users in a similar position as the one I experienced would find a supportive donator as the one who I was so lucky to meet with here at sysnative.

 

[Just]

Well, there is an afterword here. It seems that I need to active Windows through the phone. Microsoft provides an explanation (KB950929) on how to find the right phone number to call. However, on my machine the activation wizard does not propose the choice "Use the automated phone system to activate". I have then no way to find the phone number.


The wizard gives a choice to "display other activation options".

​

But clicking on that choice does not give access to any of the phone activation choices which are described in KB950929.

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Any idea ? Thanks in advance. :r1: