vista activation

PAULRYAN52 · 21 Jul 2007 at 23:24

hi ive just reset my cmos on my motherboard and vista saying it needs activating but says the keys already in use when trying to activate online.

p.s its a legit copy

tom_e · 21 Jul 2007 at 23:27

you will need to activate over the phone, ive not done this for vista but when xp wanted me to phone it was all automatic with no human intervention but ive heard its still pretty straight forward even when you talk to an operator

PAULRYAN52 · 21 Jul 2007 at 23:32

how come it happened in the first place seeing as i havent changed any parts

Priapus · 22 Jul 2007 at 00:06

I think it's because Vista thinks its on a new motherboard, hence needing to be activated again.

PAULRYAN52 · 22 Jul 2007 at 00:10

thanks ive 3 days to activate it

Mattitude · 22 Jul 2007 at 00:24

time on the bios? i remember ages ago changing the clock settings and i had to reactivate

avatar12m · 22 Jul 2007 at 17:37

i had the same problem when i went to a raid array, had to ring up in the end and speak to someone i could not understand

, asked the usual questions etc and promptly gave me the code, wierd really cos i had to reformat again afterwards and it let me activate it straight away... :confused:

JeffHoon · 22 Jul 2007 at 17:56

had the same problem at work, just ring them up and they will ask you for your phone activation code and then they will give you the information that you require.

iMacMart · 23 Jul 2007 at 07:38

Didn't want to start a new thread but work gave me a DVD, with what one of the tech guys says has Ultimate 64bit on it, but at the screen where it shows what version to load it mentions nothing about 64bit just says Vista Ultimate???? :confused:

Can anyone with 64bit confirm that their was/is the same as the last thing I wanna do is load 32bit and have to do the job again?

Not moaning too much as it's free

but i do want 64bit over 32!

Brian Stuart · 23 Jul 2007 at 10:39

tweakinfreak said:
Didn't want to start a new thread but work gave me a DVD, with what one of the tech guys says has Ultimate 64bit on it, but at the screen where it shows what version to load it mentions nothing about 64bit just says Vista Ultimate???? Can anyone with 64bit confirm that their was/is the same as the last thing I wanna do is load 32bit and have to do the job again?

Not moaning too much as it's free but i do want 64bit over 32!

I wouldn't start asking about what appears to be pirated software. Quick way to a holiday

tom_e · 23 Jul 2007 at 10:45

Brian Stuart said:
I wouldn't start asking about what appears to be pirated software. Quick way to a holiday

Theres more chance its coming from an MSDN subscription if its from a techie at work

Mint_Sauce · 23 Jul 2007 at 11:02

I've had to activate a few times, it's a right pain. First yo go through to an automated system that asks you to enter a looong string. Then once that's done she says I need to speak to an operator.
The operator comes on the line, doesn't speak English well, I have to repeat everything 5 times at which point it comes back invalid as he has mis-heard me and put the wrong numbers in. Eventually we get somewhere and I get a long string of numbers back I have to type in.

Finally get activation but the whole thing is a nightmare, should be able to do it in windows automatically. I mean they're asking me to say all the numbers and then the other guy types them in his pc, why not just automate the whole process?

iCraig · 23 Jul 2007 at 11:06

Mint_Sauce said:
I mean they're asking me to say all the numbers and then the other guy types them in his pc, why not just automate the whole process?

An automated system might be open to abuse and workarounds. I would say that the call centre generates a bit of cash, but I believe it's a free-phone number?

Brian Stuart · 23 Jul 2007 at 11:28

There is an automated system but it will only activate a set number of times before you have to speak to a CSR. The present system is automated and it asks various questions that you have to key in the answer to, but if the system thinks ther is a problem it puts you through to a CSR.
I must say that in all the times I have telephoned the activation helpline I have never had a problem with accents.

iMacMart · 23 Jul 2007 at 11:43

Brian Stuart said:
I wouldn't start asking about what appears to be pirated software. Quick way to a holiday

We're a gold partner at work! It's not pirated? It's just not as clear as I thought it would be!

Nevermind I'm going to whack it on anyhow

stoofa · 23 Jul 2007 at 12:11

Just because your work is a "Gold Partner" doesn't mean anything.
You don't get all of your software for free from MS - we partner with MS on some major projects and we still have to pay for all of our licenses.

What does the actual DVD say on it - amongst the various holograms etc it should tell you the version that is contained on the disk.
If it's a written DVD then it's most likely an MSDN download which shouldn't be leaving the company at all, even if it's going on a workers machine.

Either way you will need to speak with your own technical support department.
Really you should be anyway because if there is one sure fire way your company could lose "Gold Partner" status it would be if your technical people were distributing software they shouldn't be.

ShakenNstirred · 23 Jul 2007 at 12:19

iCraig said:
An automated system might be open to abuse and workarounds. I would say that the call centre generates a bit of cash, but I believe it's a free-phone number?

yeah it a 0800 number you ring, i had to ring it last night to reactivte vista 64 bit (i installed 2 new 7200rpm hdd in my laptop a few weeks ago)

Brian Stuart · 23 Jul 2007 at 14:14

The MS activation number is 0800 018 8354