Windows 7 product key not valid

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I would like to install a Virtural Box on Windows 10 Professional. Within Virtural Box I need to install Windows 7 so I can continue to
use Lotus 1-2-3 which will not run on Windows 10.

I have a valid product key for Windows 7 Professional. When I enter the product key at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7 I recieve a message the product key is not valid.

How can I obtain a legal copy of Windows 7?

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You need a retail license that is no longer in use. How you find one of those I don’t know.

cheers, Paul

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doriel

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Seems to me, that your license is already in use. Maybe you should deactivate before activating on your VM.

Check this link how to do that. I did not test that by myself, I do not have a legal key, but its worth trying.
https://whatsabyte.com/windows/deactivate-windows-product-key/

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

PRUSA i3 MK3S+

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You could try another approach: Run Lotus 1-2-3 in Windows 10 using “compatibility mode” – this will cause Lotus to run under most of the Windows 7 rules. It might be enough to get it to run successfully under Windows 10. If it works, this will be a simpler solution than running Windows 7 in a virtual machine.

Actually, you could use Windows XP rules as well. In fact, if you are unsuccessful using Windows 7 rules, try Windows 8.1, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 rules. One of those choices may work.

Here’s how to do it:

Right-click on the Lotus installer program, then choose “Troubleshoot Compatibility”.

On the Select Troubleshoot Option screen choose “Troubleshoot Program”.

Check the box which says “The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won’t install or run now.” Click Next.

Choose Windows 7 and click Next. (Or, select a different version of Windows.)

Click Test the Program. This will run the install with Windows 7 rules.

Keep your eye on the task bar (bottom of the screen). When the Installer prompt appears, click on it. It will now proceed with the install of Lotus.

Once the program has installed, click Next on the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter screen.

On the next screen, choose “Yes, save these settings for this program.” If it asks you to reboot, tell it you will reboot later. Then click Next on the Troubleshoot Compatibility window. Tell it to save the settings for this program, then reboot the computer.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Cybertooth

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If you had used that Win 7 key to upgrade to Win 10 it may no longer be valid.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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Bill C.

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Thanks to all for the replies. Will certainly try compatibility mode.

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Lotus 1-2-3 which will not run on Windows 10

What error are you getting? Which version of Lotus?
I have 1-2-3 from SmartSuite 98 on Win 10 Pro 1909. Admittedly it is only doing a simple spreadsheet, but I’ve had no problems.
Do you have the 9.8 Fixpak 2 file: C82ETIE.exe, 10.5MB? I don’t know what specifically it fixes.

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Also check the hits from a Search for [ windows 10 lotus smartsuite ].
One hit is a reminder to not use the default install location C:\Lotus, but instead to specify C:\Program Files (x86)\Lotus. That is where I had put it.

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Just installed Lotus Smart Suite 9.7 using compatibility mode as recommend by Jim Phelps.

Lotus running with no problems. Thanks again Jim Phelps.

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MrJimPhelps, Elly

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Does your version of Lotus 1-2-3 run on Windows XP? If so, consider installing XP in Vitual Box.

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