I've come into possession of a computer with Windows 7, it's one of those slimline jobs with only 2 sata ports, one for DVD and another for hard drive and no room for a second hard drive. It has a 1Tb drive with a hidden partition to reinstall Windows but I want to reformat it with a Windows partition and a couple of Linux partitions. There's a product key on a label on the case.

Will simply entering this product key make it work forever, or would I have to call Microsoft to "verify" it? I don't want to allow Windows on the internet because of all the shenanigans MS has been pulling for the last year or so. If I can't just install w/o involving MS I think I'd just set the hard drive aside and install something else on another terabyte drive I have handy.

Cookies await.

So if you have a computer with no internet access you can't install Windows? I thought there was a way to phone in? If you can phone in, they tell you a number to type into Windows to activate it? And the same number will work on subsequent re-installs?

Do you know just how that works? I can write down whatever they tell me on the phone and reinstall maybe in a year when it needs it or I mess it up without calling in yet again?

I have installed W7 without notifying MS. The disk I used did not have drivers for networking.

Mmmmmmmm. Fresh from the oven.

Wasn't there some sort of business version that didn't have to do that? Was it called Enterprise?

[EDIT] I just tried downloading the ISO from MS and got this:

Error

The product key you entered appears to be for software pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options.

I <ahem> "acquired" an iso and installed it in a VM and tried the phone activation setup thing. There was a 36 digit number to type in to an automated phone system which would apparently recite another 36 digits that you would enter on the computer to get activated. I shut this VM down for awhile, then started it back up again to see if that 36 digit number would stay the same, and it was. But then I deleted the VM and reinstalled everything the same again and it came up with a different number, so I guess you have to call in every time. I'm guessing it's probably based on time of day on install, vanishingly small chance of getting it exactly the same twice by fiddling with the time in CMOS.

Volume License versions do not require activation.

OEM versions require the OEM software. So a Dell keys requires a Dell version of Windows. The OEM is likely labeled on the sticker as well, and I have heard of people modifying versions of windows to accept OEM licenses, but that takes some degree of fiddling...