MSDN software question

[ccl0]

i hope its ok to ask these questions, but i have some problems i cant figure out in regards to msdn

once upon a time i had a subscription to the msdn software through academic alliance http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/bb250591. this was over a year ago.

well windows 7 had just come out and i played around with it but put it aside and went back to xp.

fast forward to now, and i feel like completely transitioning to w7.

my question is, can i still use the msdn software? and if so, will my keys i originally got work with w7+sp1?

if the answer is yes to both.. then (here is the part i'm not sure if its ok to ask about) is there a way to re-download the software from my account? or can i use and w7 disk? my account expired about 4 months ago, i think. so its very possible that i wont be able to use this anymore, but i thought i'd ask about it

[ricktendo]

Yes your keys should work with sp1 and yes you can still use them (hopefully you generated the heck out of them.) Only when your 10 free online activations stop working you have to then activate over the phone (if you reinstall allot like me this day comes quick)

As for re-downloading you are out of luck there, have to find another way to get the integrated iso's

[ccl0]

but are they are tied to strictly msdn software? i dont really know the difference between say for example oem software, msdn, retail etc

[Kelsenellenelvian]

MSDN = Corp = VLK

[ricktendo]

MSDN = Corp = VLK

They also (mostly) generate Retail (RTL) keys so they should work with any retail copy of Windows 7

Check to see what type of serial it is on your keys page

[ccl0]

ok thanks for the help

i was thinking last night i might hold off a few more months lol

i think eventually sometime this year i'll build a new system, and maybe then i'll try sorting this out at that time

[ccl0]

ok i have another question. my parents just got a hp computer, but its got a ton of bloat and extra crap on it.

i was wanting to try wiping it clean and installing just w7+sp1 but not sure where to start. there is no recovery dvd, but a recovery partition. i think if i make a backup dvd it would copy EVERYTHING (bloat software included )

so am i limited to just working with w7 source supplied by hp?

i've built my own computers since forever.. so i dont know much about software supplied by pre-built computer companies :tired:

[ricktendo]

Yes, the recovery partition has a wim file that it will dump onto the C:\ drive, its been sysprep'd and probably has preinstalled software

If you have a SP1 disc you can install that and activate it:

1- check your bios with "slic toolkit" to see if you have slic 2.1 (if not update your bios and try again)

2- back up your oem certificate <filename>.xrm-ms (usually stored in %windir%\system32\oem\) and oem serial

3- reinstall whatever windows 7 version you had before

4- install certificate (if you add this to \oem dir in your wim or with sources\$oem$ method it will auto install)

SLMGR.VBS -ilc <FILENAME>.XRM-MS

5- apply same serial

SLMGR.VBS -ipk <OEM_PRODUCT_KEY>

You can get more info on this if you google "create oem dvd"

BTW you can install any version of Windows 7 if you have slic 2.1 bios and activate it, you just need the correct certificate and serial