So a recent update to Win7 made my non-genuine version annoying (all the pop ups and stuff). I caved in and bought myself a genuine copy. It is on an actual CD and the only way so far I have seen mentioned, is installing windows again (putting all the old stuff in a windows.old folder somewhere). Isn't there a way of just putting in the new serial and activating again?
Nope you will need to reinstall Windows, but you don't necessarily have to reformat so you can keep all your files.
you could try changing the product key for the legit one and then reactivating it. It should work if the versions are the same.
Click on Computer to open Computer folder and then click on System Properties on the taskbar. In the “Windows activation” section, click on the Change product key link. If User Account Control (UAC) prompts for administrator password or confirmation, type your password, or click on the Continue. http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/10/26/how-to-change-windows-7-product-key/
I suggest not to do that... Your copy of Win7 is not legit, it could contain Win7 product key stealing malware, not to mention rootkits (malware which can't be easily detected), and many more things. I strongly suggest a clean install, ensuring the best experience out of your system. BTW, congrats on your purchase of a software! It's definitely worth every penny, and you will by far not regret your purchase, in my opinion.
+1 on that - don't try it. Just reinstall Windows... it's no hardship, it does its stuff in like half an hour and its all done. You don't have to lose any files providing you don't choose to reformat - which you don't have to. All you're doing is replacing your current Windows files with those of the legal version. Of course you can choose to do a full reformat if you wish...
