I have an OEM version of Vista Home Premium x64. I would like to install another copy on a different hard drive on the same system. Will the second installation fail validation? Will the first installation become disabled? What kind of side effects can I expect?
Activation question
- Thread starter Torr
- Start date
Hello Torr, and welcome to Vista Forums.
Sorry, but unless you have another Product Key Number to use with that other installed copy instead of the one you are currently using, it will fail activation. You will then have a 30 day trial of it before you must enter the other Product Key Number or reinstall that copy again.
Your first activated install should remain activated.
Hope this helps,
Shawn
Sorry, but unless you have another Product Key Number to use with that other installed copy instead of the one you are currently using, it will fail activation. You will then have a 30 day trial of it before you must enter the other Product Key Number or reinstall that copy again.
Your first activated install should remain activated.
Hope this helps,
Shawn
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- Operating System
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
- Manufacturer/Model
- Custom
- CPU
- Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
- Motherboard
- ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
- Memory
- 64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
- Graphics Card(s)
- ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
- Sound Card
- Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
- Screen Resolution
- 2560x1440
- Hard Drives
- 1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
- PSU
- Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
- Case
- Thermaltake Core P3
- Cooling
- Corsair Hydro H115i
- Keyboard
- Logitech wireless K800
- Mouse
- Logitech MX Master 3
- Internet Speed
- 1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
- Other Info
- Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
-
- Operating System
- Windows 10 Pro
- Manufacturer/Model
- HP Envy Y0F94AV
- CPU
- i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
- Memory
- 16 GB DDR4-2133
- Graphics card(s)
- NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
- Sound Card
- Conexant ISST Audio
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 17.3" UHD IPS touch
- Screen Resolution
- 3480 x 2160
- Hard Drives
- 512 GB M.2 SSD
I was able to click Re-Activate on my second computer with Vista Ultimate. Try to Re-Activate on the other computer too. I dont think MS can disable a computer if the key is used again, well ive never heard of it anyways...
Good Luck
Good Luck
My Computer
System One
-
- Manufacturer/Model
- Hewlett Packard
- CPU
- 3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
- Memory
- 2GB / 3GB
- Hard Drives
- 160 GB / 160 GB
There is no second computer. Both drives reside on the same computer. The difference is that one of them is my primary OS, which needs to be fully encrypted and the other is my gaming OS which needs maximum speed and thus no encryption. Both run on the same machine though. When I want to play games I'll boot one, when I want to do anything else I'll boot the other.
My Computer
Then just try to re-activate. If MS should do anything just tell them its the same computer. I dont see anything wrong with that.
Have you tried activating it yet?
My Computer
System One
-
- Manufacturer/Model
- Hewlett Packard
- CPU
- 3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
- Memory
- 2GB / 3GB
- Hard Drives
- 160 GB / 160 GB
I don't see anything wrong with it either. But unfortunately, the license clearly stipulates that you are only allowed to run one copy on one machine. So, if I did attempt to argue my case to Microsoft, they would say I have to buy another license for the second copy.
Thus, I'm not going to replace my current gaming OS with this one if it's going to cause such problems.
Thus, I'm not going to replace my current gaming OS with this one if it's going to cause such problems.
My Computer
Torr,
You cannot use the same product key number on more than one installed Vista at a time. If you do, one of them will have their activation fail putting you in Reduced Functionality Mode until you enter another valid product key number.
Fmjc001,
Trying to workaround this is illegal and will not be discussed in these forums. Doing so could result in a ban.
Sorry,
Shawn
You cannot use the same product key number on more than one installed Vista at a time. If you do, one of them will have their activation fail putting you in Reduced Functionality Mode until you enter another valid product key number.
Fmjc001,
Trying to workaround this is illegal and will not be discussed in these forums. Doing so could result in a ban.
Sorry,
Shawn
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- Operating System
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
- Manufacturer/Model
- Custom
- CPU
- Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
- Motherboard
- ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
- Memory
- 64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
- Graphics Card(s)
- ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
- Sound Card
- Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
- Screen Resolution
- 2560x1440
- Hard Drives
- 1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
- PSU
- Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
- Case
- Thermaltake Core P3
- Cooling
- Corsair Hydro H115i
- Keyboard
- Logitech wireless K800
- Mouse
- Logitech MX Master 3
- Internet Speed
- 1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
- Other Info
- Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
-
- Operating System
- Windows 10 Pro
- Manufacturer/Model
- HP Envy Y0F94AV
- CPU
- i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
- Memory
- 16 GB DDR4-2133
- Graphics card(s)
- NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
- Sound Card
- Conexant ISST Audio
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 17.3" UHD IPS touch
- Screen Resolution
- 3480 x 2160
- Hard Drives
- 512 GB M.2 SSD
Sorry 
My Computer
System One
-
- Manufacturer/Model
- Hewlett Packard
- CPU
- 3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
- Memory
- 2GB / 3GB
- Hard Drives
- 160 GB / 160 GB