Vista - Activation crisis number 2!

Hi all...

I REALLY hope you guys can help... I'm at a loss as to what exactly is
happening here, and so far the US customer support tells me to "contact UK
support" and the UK support desk says "you've had Vista for more than 90 days
so pay us £40 plus tax or we won't even listen to you"...

Basically, I was given a message yesterday telling me that due to a hardware
change, I needed to reactivate Vista.

I tried, and I got a message saying that the product key was already in use
and that I could either:

a) Buy another product key (Which is a non-starter... I have a perfectly
good one already!)

b) Use another product key (which I don't have... again, I already have a
perfectly good one!)

The only hardware I changed was the case... All the internal hardware is
EXACTLY the same and I have not re-formatted or re-installed windows at all.

Now, I'm stuck with a PC that is telling me that in 3 days it will stop
working, and I'm having ZERO joy with the help desks...

Why would Vista tell me that my product key is already in use, for a PC that
is supposed to be running using it?

How do I sort this out so that I can get Vista working again?

I'm at a loss here... One side I have a PC about to stop working and the
other I have support desks that are next to useless!

please help guys and gals!

You can get started with phone activation by typing "slui.exe 4"
in the search field in the Start Menu and pressing Enter.
The phone activation process takes about 6 minutes.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Robnewman" wrote:

| Hi all...
|
| I REALLY hope you guys can help... I'm at a loss as to what exactly is
| happening here, and so far the US customer support tells me to "contact UK
| support" and the UK support desk says "you've had Vista for more than 90 days
| so pay us £40 plus tax or we won't even listen to you"...
|
| Basically, I was given a message yesterday telling me that due to a hardware
| change, I needed to reactivate Vista.
|
| I tried, and I got a message saying that the product key was already in use
| and that I could either:
|
| a) Buy another product key (Which is a non-starter... I have a perfectly
| good one already!)
|
| b) Use another product key (which I don't have... again, I already have a
| perfectly good one!)
|
| The only hardware I changed was the case... All the internal hardware is
| EXACTLY the same and I have not re-formatted or re-installed windows at all.
|
| Now, I'm stuck with a PC that is telling me that in 3 days it will stop
| working, and I'm having ZERO joy with the help desks...
|
| Why would Vista tell me that my product key is already in use, for a PC that
| is supposed to be running using it?
|
| How do I sort this out so that I can get Vista working again?
|
| I'm at a loss here... One side I have a PC about to stop working and the
| other I have support desks that are next to useless!
|
| please help guys and gals!

Thank a million Carey... that worked a treat...

I owe you a cyber beer!

(And I'll remember this method for next time... If there is a next time!)

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> You can get started with phone activation by typing "slui.exe 4"
> in the search field in the Start Menu and pressing Enter.
> The phone activation process takes about 6 minutes.
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
> Microsoft Community Newsgroups
> news://msnews.microsoft.com/
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Robnewman" wrote:
>
> | Hi all...
> |
> | I REALLY hope you guys can help... I'm at a loss as to what exactly is
> | happening here, and so far the US customer support tells me to "contact UK
> | support" and the UK support desk says "you've had Vista for more than 90 days
> | so pay us £40 plus tax or we won't even listen to you"...
> |
> | Basically, I was given a message yesterday telling me that due to a hardware
> | change, I needed to reactivate Vista.
> |
> | I tried, and I got a message saying that the product key was already in use
> | and that I could either:
> |
> | a) Buy another product key (Which is a non-starter... I have a perfectly
> | good one already!)
> |
> | b) Use another product key (which I don't have... again, I already have a
> | perfectly good one!)
> |
> | The only hardware I changed was the case... All the internal hardware is
> | EXACTLY the same and I have not re-formatted or re-installed windows at all.
> |
> | Now, I'm stuck with a PC that is telling me that in 3 days it will stop
> | working, and I'm having ZERO joy with the help desks...
> |
> | Why would Vista tell me that my product key is already in use, for a PC that
> | is supposed to be running using it?
> |
> | How do I sort this out so that I can get Vista working again?
> |
> | I'm at a loss here... One side I have a PC about to stop working and the
> | other I have support desks that are next to useless!
> |
> | please help guys and gals!
>
>
>