Vista - activation of my windows vista after moving hard drive to new comp

I moved my hard drive from one computer to another now my windows will not
activate because of the product number was registered on my old laptop. I
did not think I would have a problem because I simply removed my hard drive
and placed it in this computer so I am not trying to install it again.

My windows will not activate because of this. What can I do?

"lj0419" <lj0419@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>I moved my hard drive from one computer to another now my windows will not
> activate because of the product number was registered on my old laptop. I
> did not think I would have a problem because I simply removed my hard
> drive
> and placed it in this computer so I am not trying to install it again.
>
> My windows will not activate because of this. What can I do?

There are a couple of issues here. Firstly is the XP version OEM or retail?
If retail it can be moved to a different computer. If OEM, by the license
it can't be moved to another computer, whether by installation or by moving
a hard drive with it already installed.

Normally when moving a drive with XP installed to a different computer,
aside from the licensing issues, a repair install is needed to get it to
work properly unless the hardware is identical or almost so.

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

Does it boot up? What error message are you getting?

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"Rock" <Rock@nospam.net> wrote
> "lj0419" <lj0419@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>>I moved my hard drive from one computer to another now my windows will not
>> activate because of the product number was registered on my old laptop.
>> I
>> did not think I would have a problem because I simply removed my hard
>> drive
>> and placed it in this computer so I am not trying to install it again.
>>
>> My windows will not activate because of this. What can I do?
>
> There are a couple of issues here. Firstly is the XP version OEM or
> retail? If retail it can be moved to a different computer. If OEM, by the
> license it can't be moved to another computer, whether by installation or
> by moving a hard drive with it already installed.
>
> Normally when moving a drive with XP installed to a different computer,
> aside from the licensing issues, a repair install is needed to get it to
> work properly unless the hardware is identical or almost so.
>
> Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
>
> Does it boot up? What error message are you getting?

Sorry, disregard that link, I was thinking I was in an XP newsgroup...lol.
The point about the transfer of an OEM license still applies in Vista,
however.

If your copy of Vista is retail, and it won't activate by the internet, then
do the phone activation.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

1. Open the System item in Control Panel. To do this, click Start, type System in the
Start Search box, and then click System in the Programs list.

2. In the Windows activation section, click the Change product key link.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password.

3. In the Product key field, type the product key, and then click Next.

4. Follow the steps in the Windows Activation Wizard to complete the activation process
which may include activation by phone.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

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"lj0419" wrote:

I moved my hard drive from one computer to another now my windows will not
activate because of the product number was registered on my old laptop. I
did not think I would have a problem because I simply removed my hard drive
and placed it in this computer so I am not trying to install it again.

My windows will not activate because of this. What can I do?