i have installed a genuine copy of vista home premium without the product key as i have never had one and now i cant retrieve updates as i am asked for the product key. what can i do as im pulling my hair out here.wayne

Hi, you must enter Product key for Windows activation. You can find your product key on License stick. It looks like this: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/static/images/coa_page_pc-sysbldr.jpg

Fist you should post in a Vista forum instead of a Windows 7 forum - they are two different products and there are forums for each! http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/category/windowsvistaitpro Then you need to describe your situation in detail so readers know exactly what you are talking about - POST DETAILS!Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.