On Thu, 5 Jul 2018 16:42:10 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

The product key shown on a sticker on the case is for a volume image of
the OS that gets copied onto thousands of computers by the OEM'er. They
don't validate every computer they manufacture. They copy an image
(fixed) onto each computer. They get to use the volume license. You do
not, so the product key shown on the sticker may not be valid for use by
you. Use something like Magic Jellybean or Belarc Advisor to get the
Windows 7 license key out of that instance of an install. That's the
one you get to reuse.

My Dell laptop was the other way around. The Windows key on the sticker
was my unique key. Belarc reported the generic Dell key.

--

Char Jackson