Vista - Activation Key for Dell Express Service Upgrade

I received two dvds from dell, upgrade assistant and operating system.
Inserted the upgrade assistant as my booklet tells me to, it did it's stuff
and this all went smoothly. After this I inserted the operating system dvd
and installed Windows Vista Home Premium.

The program asked me, before installation, to type my activation key, which
is not on the paper cases the dvd's came in. The key on the chassis of my
Dimension E520 does not work either.

So I went ahead and installed without activating it online, but I log onto
my pc this evening and am now told I have 27 days to activate online.

I have phoned Dell customer services to speak to some rude Indian men who
did not understand my problem, insisting I must be typing the key in wrong,
which I am 100% certain is not the case.

I live in the UK, I don't know if this has not been a problem with anywhere
else in the world, but I can't seem to find any answers to my problem.

I'd much appreciate any help anyone could give.
Thanks!

In news:5796D0C7-BE84-432B-9176-AF5030D10B14@microsoft.com,
Matt5489 <Matt5489@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I received two dvds from dell, upgrade assistant and
> operating system.
> Inserted the upgrade assistant as my booklet tells me to, it
> did it's
> stuff and this all went smoothly. After this I inserted the
> operating
> system dvd and installed Windows Vista Home Premium.
>
> The program asked me, before installation, to type my
> activation key,
> which is not on the paper cases the dvd's came in. The key on
> the
> chassis of my Dimension E520 does not work either.
>
> So I went ahead and installed without activating it online,
> but I log
> onto my pc this evening and am now told I have 27 days to
> activate
> online.
>
> I have phoned Dell customer services to speak to some rude
> Indian men
> who did not understand my problem, insisting I must be typing
> the key
> in wrong, which I am 100% certain is not the case.
>
> I live in the UK, I don't know if this has not been a problem
> with
> anywhere else in the world, but I can't seem to find any
> answers to
> my problem.
>
> I'd much appreciate any help anyone could give.
> Thanks!

I don't know how it was handled in the UK, but the Dell Vista
Upgrade kit I saw here in the US had the Certificate of
Authenticity attached to a piece of cardboard within the shrink
wrapping. The product key you need is on that COA. Hopefully,
you didn't throw away any of the packaging.

Note: The key from the sticker that's already on your computer
is for XP and will not work with Vista.

If any of the items in the kit were missing the instructions
were to visit this web site for how to contact Dell.

https://www.dellvistaupgrade.com/contactus.aspx

FYI, it's possible to extend the activation period for your
Vista installation by following the procedure outlined in this
article. If you can't find the COA, it may take some time
before you get this situation resolved.

Use Vista for four months
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=224

Good luck

Nepatsfan