Thanks, I'll do that.

Yep, I'll give it a shot, thanks

Yes, that's correct, the product key is on the sticker, and that would peel off the CD sleeve. The grey/silver scratch off with "MICROSOFT" printed on it, that is covering the product key is what I'm...

Well, didn't see anything about removing the sticker......I wonder if I used something like acetone or other solvent, if that would help, or just make it worse?

Yes, on the first CD, I ever so carefully used my thumbnail, and it did expose several of the keys, but there was glue on some parts and I destroyed the hidden keys. I'll look at that link you sent...

WOW!....That's crazy....your picture doesn't show a sticker over the product code.....Do you think it's because I bought it thru Amazon and not directly from MS?

Yep, that's exactly how my OEM 7 CD was.....you could see the product key, entered it when you were prompted and that was that...Now it's rocket science, or rather there's a few hurdles to jump...

Thank you, RobRoy and Alpha, I appreciate that insight...It's interesting, and knowing WHY certainly helps with the understanding, and to me it's almost an abstract concept....I just wanted something...

Ahh!... Great, thank you for the explanation!

Thank you!. And I apologize for being ignorant of things you guys take for granted, but let me ask this, what's the difference between a digital license and a product key?.... Are the...

It says "Windows is activated with a digital license" There's also an option to "change product key"....Why would you want to do that?

Yes, when the CD came from Amazon, there's a little sticker over part of the product key... So, I tried to carefully remove it. Nope, it also removed/damaged some of the key. So, sent it back to...

Hi Alpha: thanks for your reply...From reading everything what you're saying is making sense. It's just not as simple as I expected it to be. thanks

Hello Commander: Okay, what I did was an...

Thanks, Commander....I especially like the point you told me to delete all partitions of the SSD.
Here's a question: After doing a clean install of 10 using the CD, then I use the product code from...

Ok, the more I read the more confused I get. Here's my problem: Have a computer with OEM Windows 7, been on there a few years. It's becoming somewhat goofy and decided to do a clean install of...