If you go to install Windows 7 and receive an “Invalid Product Key” error (or the error code 0XC004F061), the most likely cause is you are trying to install an Upgrade version of Windows 7 on a machine that has had the hard drive replaced or the previous version of Vista or XP deleted. If this is the case, you will need to reinstall XP or Vista prior to running the Windows 7 Upgrade. Windows 7 Upgrade looks for a previous version on the hard drive prior to installation. So if you wipe the drive in advance, you will receive the Invalid Product Key error.
Boot to the disk or insert the upgrade disk while Windows is running. The disk should launch automatically. If not, you can navigate to it through My Computer and the setup should begin. You can still do a clean install of Windows 7 be selecting the Custom (advanced) setup option during installation. This will give you the ability to remove any existing partitions. Otherwise, your normal installation method will simply update Vista to Windows 7, which is not recommended. If you run XP, you will have to use the custom installation method, as Windows 7 cannot upgrade XP.
If you continue to have Invalid Product Key errors, contact Microsoft Support.
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