Use the Phone in method to activate your copy.
My experience is similar to yours. I upgraded from Home Premium to Ultimate
and had a system failure some weeks later and had to reinstall.
I could not activate my re installed version automatically via the Internet.
I had reinstalled to a different hard drive from my first activated install.
Instead of phoning in to activate, I reinstalled Ultimate but installed to
the same drive the first activated version had been installed on.
The activation went through without having to use the phone method.
Anyway, the phone in method will work.

I am assuming you used your anytime upgrade license key to reinstall the
upgrade.
If you did not, then you can go to your online digital locker and recover
your anytime upgrade license key to reinstall your upgrade.

"Mousesurfer" <Mousesurfer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:191CF454-5C19-4DB6-A22D-16F35AF2017A@microsoft.com...
> I purchased from Staples (07/05/2007) the Windows Anytime Upgrade disc to
> go
> from; Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Ultimate. (This was all
> from from a complete witch over from Windows XP to begin with as I bought
> a
> new computer system. Which, quite truthfully has been nothing but
> frustrating
> and headaches right from the beginning).
>
> My computer crashed. I re-installed HP Recovery Disc & Windows Anytime
> Discs
> - all seemed well. Then it started telling me I needed to - "Activate
> Windows
> in so many days or it would (I believe it said) become inactive? Which it
> did.....I'm now back to just Windows Home Premium.
>
> Does this mean I have to fork out more money? and I guess and can't even
> just get the upgrade this time around can I? because I'm already on the
> Home
> Premium?
> I need help please!!!! I fairly new at all this. I'm not a computer tech,
> just a someone that has a homebased computer.
> --
> bjg3117