So hopefully a quick and easy question for someone.

I'm looking to do a full wipe and reinstall of Windows 7. I'll be reinstalling from the disc I made when I initially purchased the computer - so it's a reinstall from a Restore and Recovery (or whatever it's called now) disc I made, from my OEM Win 7 install.

Do I need to do anything to revoke the license or some such? Or is it as simple as installing and activating it online again?

It's been a long time since I've done an OS reinstall and I don't feel like borking mine with something stupid.

*edit Damn meant to mark this as a question, hit "Post" and remembered - I guess trying to click the box "really quick" doesn't help ;)

Don't use the OEM disc, download a copy from MS and use your key.

As far as activation goes, as long as it's on the same hardware it shouldn't be more than typing the code in.

May I know y u suggest not 2 use the OEM disc? I thought it should be the same as 1 dled fr MS.

If it's the same, then it's fine. But, often times the OEM version comes with a lot of garbage on it. If yours didn't, then disregard that.

It's been nearly 15 years since I bought a computer where the OEM disc was the same as the MS disc. Usually there's all sorts of bloatware on it.

I put in a GPU and while the harddrive is the same, I've recently partitioned it. Will this count as "same" as far as hardware goes? Also, when it comes time to activate it online, as long as I've put in code I should be okay?

*edit to add I also put in a PSU.

Yup. Always in my experience.

However, to Ixamyakxim you may find issues activating it - either due to windows 10 bullshit or simply the specific oem version* you have backed up will no longer activate and microscorn wants your money instead (I'm going through the latter half right now and cant sort out shit bacause... windows 10!!?).

*Edit: as it seems here at least MS is now simply giving people the upgrade option on activation - instead of activation, on certain oem distribustions (HP myself and seen an increasing amount of this among friends last few weeks or so).

Can you do this if your laptop came with a Windows disc that doesn't require you to type in a key?

This... makes me a bit nervous. I really hope I don't have issues here.

I'm not sure I ever received a code - I can dig out the box and documentation but I don't exactly remember having that "slip of paper" like I did with older computers and OEM Windows.

So just to be clear... is my "code" the "Product ID" listed under Computer - System and at the very bottom in the "Windows Activation" section?

You need to tell me what edition your Windows 7 copy is?

Pro? Ultimate? Home?

I meant the code on the bottom of your laptop etc

What Sachys asked is the STICKER OF AUTHENTICITY - a hologram sticker of some sort - on the bottom of your laptop. Turn your laptop upside down to check, sometimes you have to open the BATTERY and the sticker is (in)conveniently placed there.

No offense, but I stated it - asked is the exact opposite. Thanks for otherwise clarifying though. :)

There's only one OEM disc or restore disc i can actually remember using, which installed to an ABS (barebones) computer, handled the serial/CD key, the drivers and everything... i don't remember much for bloatware...

Although for things like Dell laptops and desktops, the bloatware is often for their own proprietary crap, like special buttons on their keyboard that do play/pause/rewind functionality, or making it able to blink... and their own backup and restore services which i have never ever used or relied on...

And maybe other things like their own media player which only works with their proprietary buttons they added to the keyboard... quick help button to get support if you're always online.... ummm... what else was there?

With Win 7, there's a secondary key that they use for preactivation, I believe. I don't think it was until more recent versions of Windows where the key was burned into the motherboard.

I'm sure if you sift through the installation media you'll find the key somewhere like the winnt.sif file, that was for XP, but I think that continued until 7. I never had an OEM disc for 7, so I don't know. Presumably, those are the home version. I generally recommend people buy small business hardware as it's usually a better deal. My small business laptop from Lenovo had a copy of Win 7 that was easy enough to move to a VM and ultimately update to Win 10. Home versions, in many cases won't allow that.
These days, you're lucky to get one at all. More and more OEMs are putting it on the disc and making you create it yourself. I think that's a large part of why MS put recent versions of Windows online for people to download. You still need a valid key in order to use the disc, but at least this way people with hobbled copies can upgrade to something a bit less sucky.

I don't know if I feel confident enough to give sweeping advice on this topic, but when I bought my mum a new laptop a few years back, I researched the model, downloaded a plain installation copy of the same version of Windows, alongside the drivers I felt were necessary, and after setting it up initially, took one look at the pre-installed bloat (eBay links, etc) and reinstalled the whole thing fresh using the product key on the underside of the system and my set of drivers.

It takes more time and knowledge than most might like, but I feel it's the best way to ensure that the system will contain as little crap as possible right from the off. This is especially true if you're setting up a system for family members who might tend to end up more at risk than you.