Will my activation code work?

I have a Samsung computer that used to run Windows 7. Long story short I am going to put it on again, and the activation code is on the bottom. When I tried to download Windows 7 from Microsoft it said my activation code wasn't valid because I needed to get s recovery disk through Samsung. I downloaded an inactivated copy of Windows 7 somewhere else and I am going to try it, do you think that my activation code will work? Or will I have to figure out how to recover it with Samsung stuff? Hope this makes sense, thanks for any help!!