Activating Old Operating System

Hi Guys.

I have an aging Clevo high end laptop which was working OK apart from the usual slowing down after several years without reinstalling the computer.

I decided to upgrade the memory that went OK.

I then decided to install a new SSD and reinstate all the software.

I have a genuine copy of Windows 7 Ultimate which has installed OK but of course as it is a new installation on the new disc it is not activated. I need to activate it so that I can then upgrade to Windows 10 - free!

The automatic activation will not work and the phone system is clearly geared to Windows 10 with (apparently) no access for Windows 7.

How can I get my genuine Windows 7 activated?

I know I should have done this before Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 but I just forgot that activation might be a problem.

Any assistance will be welcome.

 

Maybe you will get some help here -

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/10751/windows-why-cant-activate

 

If you have the key either on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop or under the battery (if it is external) or in the BIOS, you can install Win 10 and use that key to activate Win 10.
You say you replaced the hard driver? Put the old one back and run a key finder to get your install key. There are different key finders either pulls from the registry or BIOS..try both.

 

Thanks both.
I am presently working again on Windows 7. I replaced the old disc to find passwords for two or three other programs. I will try your proposals soon.

 

I have only just seen this, so a bit late, BUT -Did you try activating on-line ? I have just now re-installed my Windows 7 Ultimate, and gone on-line, -first I activated on-line, and it is now updating no problem

(updating-171 updates)
If you have problems after getting all the coa's from the old hard drive, then I suggest you clone the existing system.
I regularly tinker, and I have found that apart from using a hard drive dock, or, externa enclosures, that if you connect the new hard drive in a pc, and have that extra connection, you can clone the existing hard drive using the free version of Partition Wizard, simply using Partition Wizard.
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/minitool_partition_wizard_home_edition.html
I also tried this in my laptop, as I like to keep a clean version once all is configured, so that I can just swap back, if I get a problem whilst tinkering.
In the laptop, I just bought a cheap dvd drive replacement to take a hard drive ,instead of the dvd.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SATA-to-...911044&hash=item3d1d4f4c27:g:lBIAAOSwzJ5XYTh5
Simple, quick enough, and effective.
A word of warning to anyone trying to image/clone the hard drive this way- Leave the existing hard drive as is, and the new hard drive in the dvd hard drive replacement- I tried both ways, just for the tinkering, and I found that if I put the existing hard drive into the replacement dvd position, it deleted the partitions, on the drive I copied from, before restarting, and cloning, and then faulted, and never copied to the new,-result no copy, and lost original...…..
So, if attempting this just leave the existing hard drive in position.​