Resolved Future other region restriction problem

Good day. I live in Souteast Asia and Im about to buy a Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium set but I saw a sticker saying "This product is for distribution in Southeast Asia and should be activated in the region." This is for the retail Windows 7 only as I have no idea nor seen an OEM Windows 7.

We will be migrating in Canada this year (hopefully) and if ever there are times I need to format my laptop beyond repair, what are the possible fixes I can do? I paid for the software but I got region restriction.

Regards,
Chris

I'm currently some Google'd websites regarding this issue. I'll be back if there are results.

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UPDATE:

I only have found one. http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en/genuinewindows7/thread/5918068a-5f66-46b9-82ff-0a558374fbf9

I have to admit that Windows 7 Home Premium retail is a lot cheaper than the US counterpart. I wonder what I'll do? My laptop keeps on Blue Screening and I can't scan it properly.

 

@ clubECGR

Hi Chris, Yes the thread you found describes it quite well.

Best thing is to make a complete backup or image after you installed the OS
and all the updates and activation.
Macrium Reflect was mentioned which is quite good for a free program.
Also free is Paragon's Backup & Recovery Free Edition
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/
That's a very nice program as well.
They also have the paid version as do Acronis True Image and Symantec Ghost.
The problem lies in the fact that in future ,if the laptop would be beyond repair,you may not be able to restore the image to a new computer ,
laptop or desktop, without re-activation.

Without the region restriction ,being a retail version,you'd have no problem.
but in this case the solutions mentioned at the forum may work.

I suppose a direct call to M$ may give the answer ,but is dependent on the smarts of the agent
I have seen many contradictory statements given by various agents.

Hope you'll find a satisfactory solution.I think it would be wrong to penalize
you for moving to Canada and refusing to re-activate in the then present location.
Aside from that ,what happens if you're just traveling outside the region, the laptop gets damaged and you need a new machine? Do you have to wait to get back into the region or can you just buy a new computer and transfer the OS and data?Then re-activate.
Interesting questions.

Pete.

 

I only have problems making back-up. I do like to make a back up similar to the one found on OEM-enabled laptops where I only need to press F10 to activate the pre-installed OS like the one on my laptop.

I sure hope I can find a tutorial or something like that.

Thanks for the idea. I'm worried about being infected by a malware beyond repair and re-installing is the only solution that's why I'm relying on the built-in OS back-up.

I'll try to see these FREE back up programs. Thanks for the solution and I am happy you gave an in-depth answers that I need.

I could just buy the Windows 7 in Canada and just re-install the Vista that came with my laptop but I have so many programs that are hard to install (don't ask why) so I need atleast a new OS to install. Beside it's Vista Basic. I need to evolve my computers so I can't just re-install the old OS. Hope you understand my situation and I understood it very well.

If only I can provide the necessary logs for the malware forum but I can't so I need to re-format it.

Regards,
Chris

 

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the added info.
We're running with at least 3 different issues here.
For simplicity's sake we should address them separately.

1.Your present system is blue-screening as you said.
Try to address that separately.
2.Backup and recovery.
3.Future recovery and activation.

I'll try to address 2 and 3 here.

Backing up is not that hard to do given the right program.
The "OEM backup" via F10 is just accessing the recovery partition that was put in place by the manufacturer.
Not always a good idea since it resets everything back to factory specs
and doesn't save your additionally installed programs and data.

With Win7 you can do the same by using the built-in Win Backup right after you installed the OS ,Updates ,additional drivers and activation and saving it to a separate partition on your harddrive.
For recovery you would use the Win7 DVD and point to that partiton.
Personally ,I would also save another backup or image, using one of the programs I mentioned.

As to total non-recovery status - this will only occur with hardware failure or physical damage,like dropping it or driving your car over it etc.
Otherwise there's no reason for a totally fresh install and re-ativation.
Hardware failure, unless it's the harddrive,won't necessarily require re-install or re-activation.Actually with an off-system saved backup or clone,you won't have to re-activate.

Neither does a wipe-out of the drive caused by a virus or other malware.
There are may other ways to protest yourself from that, but again that's a different subject.

You mentioned that the original OS on your machine is Vista Basic - was this
also a regionally restricted version?
Also, your present system spec show Vista Home Premium.
Do you have the upgrade DVD for that?

Were you planning on buying a new PC (bare bones w/o OS) or just upgrading to Win7 on your present machine?
Were you thinking of a dual boot - Vista and Win7 or just Win7 only?

As to future re-activation of Win7 - we sortof covered that.
you will need a direct answer from M$ to settle that question.

A couple of things I would strongly recommend is making a rescue CD and buying an external harddrive.
You will need that drive for backups/images as well as for the transfer from Vista to Win7 to safeguard your programs and data.
Be aware that the present (OEM) recovery partition for Vista will stay in place on an in-place install of Win7,but will not be usable.
So it's best to wipe it out and use the space for your Win7 (Windows)backup -(enlarge partition as needed.)

This is as much as I can cover this time

Pete

 

I will not bring the bluescreen issues here as I cannot provide any logs and I got a dedicated topic in the malware forum. Thanks for the reminders.

The problem I got is that I used to seeing back-ups with particular files like documents and pictures. I have yet to encounter a back-up tool that can clone my entire partition. But I got Paragon Free Edition to test and to see if my BELIEF on back up programs changed.

The one on my ASUS is a pre-installed one. The one I posted in my spec sheet is our desktop one that I built. I would love to add my laptop's spec for that matter. I have a recovery (image copy) of Vista Basic with a soft copy from a dedicated partition.

I wouldn't mind dual boot but I prefer the Windows 7 Home Premium stand alone system (1 OS on laptop). I do like an XP dual boot if ever I have the money (Win7 Business's XP is on other topic if ever I don't find any answers).

I'm thinking of buying an OEM but the ones available are FULL retail which are the same price as the US OEM here which explains the region restriction.

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I don't mind at all if I cant clone my entire partition with all the programs installed. I just want a back up similar to the pre-installed partition with Windows already pre-activated. I can just re-install the programs again but not with my current Vista Basic. I already done that a million times or so. (sorry for over exaggurating)

 

I will mark this one solve as I found the solution to my problems: I just need to perform a "partition back up "-like style to retain the activation status. Though there may be hardware failures like HDD is a small chance but hopefully, I don't encounter those problems.

The Paragon back up applications seems to be the best back up tool but that's just my opinion

Thank you for your time in my inquiries and I will ask Microsoft *insert country of origin* and get some more details about HOW TO RE-ACTIVATE IN OTHER REGION.

 

Hi Chris,

Will try and make it short this time,besides, I'm tied up with some other issues.

Good idea.You can recover the logs if you have a bootable rescue CD -the OS is not involved and you just navigate to where the logs are
and save them to a USB flashdrive.

You may have to change your views and habits if you want to peacefully co-exist with your computers
At least partially I know this sounds like an oxymoron .
My personal experience is that more havoc was wreaked by M$ Updates and
AV /Anti-malware updates than any virus,worm or other malware.
Just witness the problems caused recently by McAfee,Bitdefender and the like.
As to seeing the files ,you can,depending on the type of backup you use.
If not straight,then use the program to mount the saved image or backup
and you can explore the contents in readable form.

Not sure what you mean by that.Win7 Professional with XP Pro ?

OEM is fine ,so long as you remember that it is tied to one machine.Trying to install it on a different machine may encounter activation problems.
If at all possible get a retail version.At least you're not tied to the original machine.

You can set it up to be like that,like I explained in the previous post.
You must be a sucker for punishment There's no reason at all to keep re-installing if you take the appropriate steps in advance.
I only re-installed XP twice in all the years I've had it (8)and only because I wanted a fresh install,plus the fact that the harddrive had symptoms of failing.
To protect against malware, operate in a protected (sandboxed or similar)environment.
There are many free and paid programs to do this.

Pete.