Windows 7 Enterprise Activation

Re-installing a Retail (or MSDN) copy of Windows over the existing copy turned out to be the correct thing. But it wasn't enough. The old copy of Windows had Internet Explorer 8 installed, whereas the reinstall had tried to put IE6 on.

The solution was to log in under Safe Mode and uninstall IE8. Even in Safe Mode, Internet Explorer (8) wouldn't load (the process would briefly appear in the Task Manager then quickly vanish), which was a good sign that something wasn't right with IE. Once IE8 was removed, I rebooted and Activation worked normally.

To uninstall IE8: Run C:\WINDOWS\ie8\spuninst\spuninst.exe and follow the instructions.

Nothing. the MAK is a "normal" MAK - it allows multiple activations, but it also invalidates, like all activations, on hardware changes. At least this was my understanding from the start (can you provide a quote from the doc saying it does not need reactivation?).

That said, my experience with them is limited - I run a KMS because it is a lot easier.