Computers

How to Check if Windows is Activated (Windows Vista or Windows 7)

Determine if Windows 7 has been successfully activated.
by Updated January 21, 2010

After installing Windows 7 (or Windows Vista) you may want to check to see if the software was actually activated.  Follow these steps to determine whether your copy of Windows has been activated successfully:

  1. Go to 'Control Panel'.
  2. Click on 'System and Security'.
  3. Then click on 'System'.
  4. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see the Windows activation details. This is where you will see if Windows is activated or not.

Alternatively you can get to the System (Windows activation detail) page:

  1. Right-click on the 'Computer' icon on your desktop
  2. Then select 'Properties'
  3. Scroll down to the Windows activation details section.

During your Windows install, if you checked to have Windows activation to be automatic when you are online, your Windows activation may show a link that says "3 days until automatic activation. Activate Windows now". You can click the link to Activate Windows online now or just wait for it to activate automatically.  If you click the Activate Windows now link, during activation, your Windows Product Key that you entered during installation will be verified.  Once the Product Key is confirmed you should see an "Activation was successfull" message.

Note: If you did not activate Windows during install by entering in the Product Key, you will have 30 days to use it before the operating system gets disabled. 

 


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MORE: windows 7, windows vista, activated, windows

2 Comments

anonymous by celine on 8/11/2010
what if their is no designation that your window 7 is already activated?
Doug by Doug on 8/11/2010
Celine,

To be honest, I'm not sure what it means if you don't seeing anything regarding the activation.

I would try doing a Microsoft Windows Update: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com so that you get the latest updates for Windows 7 and to make sure you have a genuine copy of Windows 7. If you're able to update Windows 7 successfully, then I'd say it's pretty safe to assume you're copy of Windows 7 is activated.

Hope that helps.

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