Windows 7 Keys And Licensing Advice

My employer has a purchasing program for old computers. I bought a Dell laptop through that program. The laptop was previously part of the domain, and so I disjoined it from the domain and onto a workgroup. Some time went past and today I received a pop up with this message:

"Windows could not be activated.
Key management services (KMS) host could not be located in domain name system (DNS), please have your system administrator verify that a KMS is published correctly in DNS."​

I believe this is Microsoft's way of saying that my laptop uses a Volume License Key and can no longer validate it by talking to the domain controller. Makes sense. I noticed that the laptop also has a sticker with a Windows 7 key on it. The key on the label is described as "Windows 7 Pro OA". According to System settings, the version of Windows I have installed is "Windows 7 Enterprise". I tried activating the current installation of Windows using the key from the sticker, and sure enough it failed:

"The product key you entered will not work with this edition of Windows".​

Am I able to use the Windows key from the sticker to in some way activate Windows without reinstalling the OS? E.g. can I buy an upgrade; or does Microsoft offer an exchange program for keys; or can I downgrade from Enterprise to Professional without reinstalling Windows?

Am I legally allowed to use the product key from the sticker on the laptop? I can't think why I wouldn't be, but I want to understand my rights.

If my only option is to reinstall windows, then how can I source the reinstallation media? Does Dell offer it? Can I get it from Microsoft?

 

You need to speak with Microsoft Support and discuss the matter with them giving them full details about how the system was sold to you by your employer. Your employer's Network Administrator should have had all this sorted anyway before the system was sold to you.
There is no software solution to a License issue.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...a-in-the/79c56b7c-702b-429b-8282-e594d0427c22

 

It seems that Microsoft have stopped being lenient with pirated, or, volume license COA's, and are checking out those still not upgraded to Windows 10 (for free, in the timeline)-
I saw a similar problem with Windows 8.1 volume license, on a pc- so - look's like the best way out is for these systems might to use the upgrade path to Windows 10- if it will accept the volume license unactivated- I might try that one out for a friend, myself.
That way they would not have to re-install everything.

 

Thanks for the advice above, particularly TimW - I found a better solution but had the situation been a little different then that would have helped. Although I never could get the OS files to appear within that software (maybe it's no longer maintained?) so gave up on that approach.

As I was able to resolve my issue I am posting an answer to each of my questions.

Am I able to use the Windows key from the sticker to in some way activate Windows without reinstalling the OS? E.g. can I buy an upgrade; or does Microsoft offer an exchange program for keys; or can I downgrade from Enterprise to Professional without reinstalling Windows?​

Yes, yes you can. With Windows 7 there seems to be 3 key factors (no pun intended): software version (Windows 7); Edition (Windows 7 Ultimate installed, but Windows 7 Professional key on sticker); distribution version (OEM, such as Dell, or Retail). The key on my sticker that came with the computer was for Windows 7 Professional OEM.

Microsoft were of no help, because my sticker was an OEM. I was directed to the reseller for advice. I found no exchange or purchasable upgrade program, beyond buying a whole fresh copy of Windows. I did discover that yes, you can downgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Professional by running the original OS installation media. The setup provides options to keep all programs and files in place without need for reinstallation!

Am I legally allowed to use the product key from the sticker on the laptop? I can't think why I wouldn't be, but I want to understand my rights.​

Yes! Critically though, as this was an OEM key it could only be used on the computer that the key came from. I believe this key is in someway keyed in the BIOS to authenticate this. In my situation this was fine, as sticker and key were on the computer I was reinstalling.

If my only option is to reinstall windows, then how can I source the reinstallation media? Does Dell offer it? Can I get it from Microsoft?​

Microsoft were no help in my situation with an OEM key. There was a link on their site to download the media by first entering the Product Key. On doing that I received a popup directing me to Dell. If someone is reading this with a retail distribution version, this is the Microsoft link for Windows 7:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

On Dell's support site http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/4 I found a utility to download Windows reinstallation media, ingeniously called "Dell OS Recovery Tool". I installed and ran this tool but failed after entering my Dell Service Tag. The error said something like "Failed to find OS media for [SERVICE_TAG] online, but reinstallation media does exist for this model". Cynically I suspect there is a warranty check built into the tool and as my warranty expired, I was not eligible for download. If I were more optimistic then perhaps only certain PC model's reinstallation media is available online.

I called Dell. They directed me to run the same tool. With that not working, I was offered to buy reinstallation media - not too bad at $20+tax.

I bought and launched the setup media from within Windows, no boot to image or DOS environment needed these days. I chose the options to install the OS without reinstalling files, and followed the onscreen steps which were very straightforward. I am now on Windows 7 Professional, Activated, and my files and folders are still intact.

This was very much a software issue not a licensing issue - I had the licensing necessary from the get go, but had to do a lot of hunting for the media and understanding of what the problem was. I hope that helps others.

 

It was a licensing issue as you could only reinstall the OS and version because you had a COA for that.