Oops “Invalid Product Key”, my Windows 7 Upgrade License Key did not work?
Submitted by okello on Mon, 2010-02-15 15:56
If you want to perform a clean install of Windows 7 but you only have an upgrade version, this post details several ways for that. Read on to find out more.
Did you just install your new copy of Miscosoft Windows 7 (Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate...), and find out that the brand new product key (upgrade license) is not working? Do you get the dreaded message “Invalid Product Key” even when you know your key has to be valid as you just purchased it? As frustrating as it can be, you should not give up. Luckily, there is a way to get around that.
First of all, you need to know that there are two license types for Windows 7: the full package product license (FPP) and the upgrade license. The upgrade license can only be used if you have a Windows Vista/XP license, while the FPP does not have this restriction. If that is the case, and you are stuck in a conundrum where microsoft is denying to recognize existence of the product key they sold you, keep you calm. Don't pull out all your hair, not just yet!
For the time being, continue with your installation without entering the key. Make sure you uncheck the option “Automatically activate Windows when I’m online” when it apears. When the Windows 7 install process is finished, enter the Windows 7 upgrade key manually. There are situations when this still does not work (the “0xC004F061? error message is shown). If so, there are still a couple of more ways to validate your license.
Method I (may work...)
Disclaimer: This method should only be used if you have a genuine Windows Vista/XP license which you want to upgrade from and a corresponding valid Windows 7 upgrade license as required by microsoft. Any other use of these techniques to use a Windows 7 license instead of a Full Package Product (FPP) license is not recommended.
First of all, you need to know that there are two license types for Windows 7: the full package product license (FPP) and the upgrade license. The upgrade license can only be used if you have a Windows Vista/XP license, while the FPP does not have this restriction. If that is the case, and you are stuck in a conundrum where microsoft is denying to recognize existence of the product key they sold you, keep you calm. Don't pull out all your hair, not just yet!
For the time being, continue with your installation without entering the key. Make sure you uncheck the option “Automatically activate Windows when I’m online” when it apears. When the Windows 7 install process is finished, enter the Windows 7 upgrade key manually. There are situations when this still does not work (the “0xC004F061? error message is shown). If so, there are still a couple of more ways to validate your license.
Method I (may work...)
- Log in as administrator, go to Start->Run and type in “Cmd”. Press enter. An elevated command prompt should now appear.
- Type in “slmgr -ipk “your_Windows7_upgrade_product_key” (Replace the quote with your actual Windows 7 Upgrade Product key). Press Enter.
- Now type in “slmgr -ato” and press Enter to activate your Upgrade version of Windows 7.
- Make sure there are no pending Windows Updates tasks.
- Download the file here and run it.
- Log in as administrator, go to Start->Run and type in “Cmd”. Press enter. An elevated command prompt should now appear.
- Type “slmgr -rearm” and press enter. Now restart your computer.
- Open the Activate Windows utility (go to the Start Search field and enter “Activate Windows”).
- Now enter your Windows 7 upgrade product key
Disclaimer: This method should only be used if you have a genuine Windows Vista/XP license which you want to upgrade from and a corresponding valid Windows 7 upgrade license as required by microsoft. Any other use of these techniques to use a Windows 7 license instead of a Full Package Product (FPP) license is not recommended.