Thread: Windows Crash

Originally Posted by Imisnew2

Long story short- My friend could not boot up his computer anymore.

He had used the "student discount" upgrade from vista to win7.
He was running fine for the longest time... idk what went wrong, prolly trashed his comp doing something.
So I gave him a copy of win7 to reinstall with, and it's not taking the win7 (upgrade) key he got.
Same version - Professional - and I've know it should be working, but it's not.
Fortunately, he did not format when he reinstalled.
I need to know how to get the key from the old install (will not boot up).

I would have had him reinstall vista + use upgrade again but he's kinda the common person when it comes to computers - get the computer, throw the box away... who needs those CD's anyway right? Plus he deleted his downloader (and the download) for the win7 upgrade once he... upgraded.

So yea... I'm stuck trying to get his key out of his old install.
Note: He has the key he received when he purchased the upgrade but it's not taking it?
Note2: He still has the key for his old vista install.

Note3: I'll be the one doing the repairs this time... so all of what I just posted was "by-his-word" type of thing.

Please help!

He should be able to log in from a different computer and get the CD-Key either from the download site 'past orders' or through an email he should have received. I would suggest to burn that download to a disk next time. Also make a repair disk for Win7, they come in handy like now.

If you, yourself have Win7 create a Win7 repair disk from your machine then run it on your friends computer. Win7 comes with quite a few handy fixes.