Vista - Activating Vista by Phone

My computer told said that Vista wasn't activated and that it had to be in 30 days. I purchased this computer with Vista installed, so I went to the side of my tower and checked the product key and tried activating it. For some reason it said it's already in use. So then I tried the Phone Activation and went through all the procedures and it's been activated.

What I don't get is why wouldn't it let me activate online, but let me by phone? Was my key being used by another person or was it hacked? Luckily I didn't have to blow $150.00 for nothing.

I had this problem with xp, try talking to some1 at microsoft about it (dont know any numbers, sry).

was it a new pc? has it been upgraded at all?

If for example it was activated in the shop then a new graphics card added for example Vista would complain , as its an OEM version of windows it may assume its being installed on a differant pc

when you try to activate it as its previously been activated , you will get that message

or the key has been installed on many computers, if anything id be pointing the finger at the shop/store you bought it from. if the computer was on display, then the key on the side may have been stolen while it was on display therefore there is someone using your key right now.

Mrneeds hit it on the head.
I would let the place where you got it know what happened and see if they have the discs for the system

Its working great right now. When I just kept retrying, it finally activated. I was just wondering why does it work now and what caused it not to?

Its working great right now. When I just kept retrying, it finally activated. I was just wondering why does it work now and what caused it not to?