I'm helping a friend (and her family) with some computer problems. To summarize, I would like to Re-activate their product without destroying the data on their hard drive. They did not receive a Vista master disk from the retail store where they purchased their computer. Details: They had a power outage and when they finally turned on their 2 (maybe 3) year old Compaq Presario 32bit Vista machine, they were greeted with a "Your Operating System is not Activated" dialog. After a little internet searching I found that their product key was on an official MS sticker glued to their box. When I open the System and Maintenance properties dialog, the "Windows Activation" section shows a product key with a "OEM" in it and the message "This copy of windows is not activated. Click here to activate Windows now." When I enter the Vista product key printed on the sticker, I get a dialog with the following message: "The product key you have entered will not work with this edition of Windows Vista. You must either run Windows Vista Setup or enter a Windows Vista Home Premium product key". What am I missing? Shouldn't the product key work? They cannot get the latest updates and they cannot install MS Security Essentials. This computer and OS where legitimately purchased. Thank you for your time. Tony Veni Vidi Giocavono X-Box

Hello, please use the Microsoft answers forums for Windows Vista: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx#tab=3 This forum is for Windows server related questions, thank you for understanding.Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

Hi , In line with meinolf, you can call the Microsoft Activation Center. The engineers in the center will help you to answer activation related queries Microsoft Activation Centers Worldwide Telephone Numbers http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/numbers.mspx