so it cant just be a store bought windows 7 hp disk?

regards

sam

As long as it is a Dell-branded Windows 7 Home Premium DVD ... it has to match the key (Dell, Home Premium).

Technically, no.  Retail product keys and OEM (Dell, HP, Acer, etc) product keys are NOT compatible.  You usually can, however, install using that disk, enter your product key from the computer, then activate by phone with Microsoft - but it will not activate automatically.

theflash1932 you are a legend, thank you so much

what do i say to the microsoft people, just that i used a different disk to reinstall win 7 with?

ps for a 79 year old you are terrifically useful

regards

sam

lol ... took me a second to realize why you say 79 :)

Yes.  In fact, they probably won't even ask you.  When you enter your product key and it says it cannot activate, you click on Activate by Phone, then a screen comes up with a phone number and a code.  When you call Microsoft, they'll ask what version of Windows you are using and they'll ask for the code.  As soon as that code checks out as a legit code created from a legit product key, they will give you another code that you need to enter which will manually activate Windows.