I use Windows 7 Professional (Student licence) which I installed onto a laptop whilst I tried it out. Now I'm happy with it and want to use it on my desktop PC. I want to restore the laptop with the original (Vista) disc - which I don't have a problem with and then install Windows 7 - do I need to de-activate the software (the same as Abobe products) or just uninstall and re-install it?
As long as it (the pro key) is retail just install Vista on the laptop and 7 on the desktop, should activate automatically over the internet.
If you want to be sure it is retail then download mgadiag from microsoft and run it, when it opens press continue. After the a few seconds you should see a report, the sixth line down displays the type of key used, as long as it says retail you can move taht key to another computer. There is no deactivation procedure, remove 7 by installing Vista on the laptop, THEN install windows 7, insert the key when prompted, leave the activate automatically box checked and you should not be asked to do any further steps, if however it doesn't activate automatically you can do so manual or by phone. Post back here if you need help starting the phone activation procedure.
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012
Marked as answer byy_notSaturday, March 6, 2010 2:15 PM
