Vista - Activation Crisis

I'm new to the community here but i purchased my custom built pc from a
friend of mine some 6 or so months ago, and today i get prompted that windows
needs to be re-activated. Now it asks me for a new activation key, and i am
unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista upgrade
box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from. I have tried
to contact my friend but he is not home, so i am left with Windows Vista home
Premium that needs to be re-activated and i do not know what to do. Could
someone lead me in the right direction about what i could do, or why this
happened?

Thanks in advance
Matthew

Matthew;
Hopefully your friend does not have this license installed on another
computer.
If so, that may be part of your problem.
If it is installed on another computer, it should be removed so it is
only installed on one computer.

Choose the option to activate by phone.
Call the displayed number for your region.
Typically done in less than 10 minutes.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org


"Matthew" <Matthew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:62BF2F14-59A9-412B-85A3-188854388A1A@microsoft.com...
> I'm new to the community here but i purchased my custom built pc
> from a
> friend of mine some 6 or so months ago, and today i get prompted
> that windows
> needs to be re-activated. Now it asks me for a new activation key,
> and i am
> unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista
> upgrade
> box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from. I
> have tried
> to contact my friend but he is not home, so i am left with Windows
> Vista home
> Premium that needs to be re-activated and i do not know what to do.
> Could
> someone lead me in the right direction about what i could do, or why
> this
> happened?
>
> Thanks in advance
> Matthew

normally when that happens is because of a windows update.
so, enter safe mode an do a system restore ,pick a date from like 3weeks ago just to be sure.
after that it should be working.

"... and i am
unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista upgrade
box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from"

Get keyfinder.exe off the Internet. It's free and should give you your
current key.

"Matthew" <Matthew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:62BF2F14-59A9-412B-85A3-188854388A1A@microsoft.com...
> I'm new to the community here but i purchased my custom built pc from a
> friend of mine some 6 or so months ago, and today i get prompted that
> windows
> needs to be re-activated. Now it asks me for a new activation key, and i
> am
> unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista upgrade
> box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from. I have
> tried
> to contact my friend but he is not home, so i am left with Windows Vista
> home
> Premium that needs to be re-activated and i do not know what to do. Could
> someone lead me in the right direction about what i could do, or why this
> happened?
>
> Thanks in advance
> Matthew

We'll that did not work, it said the product key provided is already in use
by myself. My friend does not have it installed, he tried to install it on
his laptop but it never worked so he has home basic on his laptop and i'm
sure he did not try to install the premium version. Before i do what Motorola
has told me i will try the thing jupiter jones said. Thank you for your help
and if i am unable to resolve the issue i will be posting back here.

"John" wrote:

> "... and i am
> unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista upgrade
> box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from"
>
> Get keyfinder.exe off the Internet. It's free and should give you your
> current key.
>
> "Matthew" <Matthew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:62BF2F14-59A9-412B-85A3-188854388A1A@microsoft.com...
> > I'm new to the community here but i purchased my custom built pc from a
> > friend of mine some 6 or so months ago, and today i get prompted that
> > windows
> > needs to be re-activated. Now it asks me for a new activation key, and i
> > am
> > unable to try my old cd key because i do not have my windows vista upgrade
> > box, because it is at my friends house who i bought the pc from. I have
> > tried
> > to contact my friend but he is not home, so i am left with Windows Vista
> > home
> > Premium that needs to be re-activated and i do not know what to do. Could
> > someone lead me in the right direction about what i could do, or why this
> > happened?
> >
> > Thanks in advance
> > Matthew
>
>
>

Thank you for all your help. Juniper, what you said did work and i think you
for taking the time to post and help me out. I appreciate it a lot.

Best of luck
Matthew

Sorry Jupiter* Not quiet sure why i put Juniper but sorry about that...

Glad to hear it worked.
As for the misspelling, not a problem.
I am not sure why, but it seems to be a common misspelling.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org


"Matthew" <Matthew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:38C00D89-6F98-4654-BF34-B1F36DCF9629@microsoft.com...
> Sorry Jupiter* Not quiet sure why i put Juniper but sorry about
> that...

We'll actually it's a childrens book. My younger sister reads them. The
series is called Juniper Jones i beleive or something very very similar to
that, so that's why i miss-spelt it...

"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" wrote:

> Glad to hear it worked.
> As for the misspelling, not a problem.
> I am not sure why, but it seems to be a common misspelling.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "Matthew" <Matthew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:38C00D89-6F98-4654-BF34-B1F36DCF9629@microsoft.com...
> > Sorry Jupiter* Not quiet sure why i put Juniper but sorry about
> > that...
>
>