Resolved Licensing: Win7 Business down to Win7 Home Prem.

Greetings....

I purchased a new Dell from the 'business' portion of their website, and it came with Windows7 Business. They don't ship installation media, so I couldn't re-install Win7 Business. But.. I did have a Dell-branded re-installation DVD of Windows7 Home Premium, so I installed that. Did not ask for activation code at time of install.

30 days later, I get angry sounding messages about my Windows installation not being genuine etc etc..

Question: To stay square with licensing, I need an activation code for Windows7 Home Premium. --and I know that Dell (and not Microsoft) who can give it to me, because it's a Dell-branded DVD that I installed from. Question: Is Windows7 Business downgradable to Windows7 Home Premium? If I read them the current Win7 Business activation code over the phone (or in chat), will they allow downgrade, and give me an activation code for win7 Home Premium?

 

Since they have to pay for each and every "activation codes ", I'd be a bit surprised if they'd be willing to give you another one for free.

 

Mystery solved. Since the computer is on a shelf near the ceiling, I couldn't see that I had 2 holographic stickers on the system. I'd actually purchased an OEM copy of Win7 Home Premium, and this is the media I used. I totally forgot that I used OEM media to install. I clicked the "activate now" link in the System Control Panel, and 15sec later, I was fully-activated. After a reboot, I had the little blue badge that said "Microsoft Genuine... "

 

Good to hear the problem's been solved.

 

I have a question similar; I have the purchased OEM copy of Win 7 Ult 32bit, a friend has the disk for the 64bit Win 7 Ult, will my license work if I installed the 64bit version?

I am asking because the 32bit is at max memory and some of the new games is requiring > 4G to use, but can be installed on a 32bit system. That is another question for another time.