Says Windows 7 invalid but have COA

I have done two Win7 installs in the last week.  Neither would allow normal activation.  However in both cases, I followed the telephone activation process and it worked just fine.  It entails phoning a number and answering a machine's questions.  It is quite lengthy and tedious, but works.  You use your phone to give it a very long set of numbers and if successful, it gives you back another long set of numbers.

I'm not an expert in solving these "Not Genuine" issues, but from having read many posts in this forum, I can tell you that sometimes an installation of Windows 7 with a perfectly valid product key matching the installed edition of Windows, can throw a "Not Genuine" error.  From what I have come to understand, this can be caused by file corruption.

There used to be a tool that was very useful in such circumstances, the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic tool (MGADiag).  Unfortunately, like many Windows 7-related resources, Microsoft "retired" MGADiag and it is no longer available from a Microsoft server.  On the other hand, fortunately, it is available from some trusted third-party sources, including https://m.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_genuine_advantage_diagnostic_tool.html (the "Authors site" link is to Microsoft, and results in a 404 Error).

Although you can download and run MGADiag, you then have to find someone who can analyze its output and help you find the problem.  Here, too, Microsoft has elected to retire the necessary resource.  The forum that used to specialize in this matter has been closed:  https://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=genuinewindows7

I suggest that you download and run MGADiag.exe.  After you run the tool, the "Continue" button changes to "Copy."  Click that and the data is copied to the clipboard.  You can then paste that data in a forum post (you might want to paste it into a Notepad window so you can save it for posting in a different forum if the first one doesn't generate any help).

There probably are still people who monitor the Windows 7 section of Microsoft Community who can analyze MGADiag's output, so you can post the MGADiag results here (either in a reply in this thread or starting a new one).

Another forum that appears to have relevant knowledge is here (also has MGADiag download link (requires creating a free account) and instructions):  https://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/

There may be other forums where experts in analyzing MGADiag output hang out, but I'm not currently aware of them.

OK, minor explaintion here, I am retired after 44 years working electronic communications, I've built every computer I've ever owned and DOS 3.2 was the first operating system I installed. I bought online the Windows 7 Pro CD with CoA, they do match. It ran and updated just fine for at least 2 years. So no the PC is one I built, but the Windows version and CoA match.

That code may be valid for a different edition (home, pro, etc.) of Win7 than the one you installed.  The licence never ends.  If it came on the PC when it was manufactured, it is good for as long as that PC continues to work.  If it was a refurbished machine, it may not be re-installable.  Or, if you got it with an illegal installation.