DdI bought a pc without a hard drive.When i replaced the hard drive, the screen then told me i had to activate windows.Do i need to purchase software for that?
Maybe. This depends on Microsoft's view of your product key. First attempt to let Microsoft activate Windows over the network connection (if the computer is on a wide-area network). If it isn't able to activate, you should call Microsoft's activation: (888) 571-2048 . (A set of windows should come up to walk you through the activation over the phone.)
Activation checks if the same product key is being used by one (and only one) computer. It also notes if the computer has undergone major changes - and is a new computer by Microsoft's viewpoint. If you have a valid product key (not on any working computer) but have a new computer, you should be able to get it activated without paying for any new software. However, if Microsoft says you have an invalid license, you may have to buy a product key.
Please note: activation with Windows 7 can be a pain if a false "invalid or pirated software" conclusion is made by the Microsoft computer. The Microsoft staff can walk you through the fix - I found it online back when I was upgrading to Win7 but have lost the link. (WinXP -> Win7 at the time)
Activation is required to keep Windows working normally. Without that, Windows Updates will be unavailable and you will eventually get a weird background with regular "not a valid copy of Windows" messages.
I hope this helps.
Cindy Wells
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