Invalid avtivation Key

I have had Vista for awhile now, and it has been a non-stop pain. Error after
error, with absolutely no help from microsoft. I've had to figure it out on
my own, and just a few days ago recovered from update errors. I had to format
my HDD, and lost all my info. I have now reinstalled Vista, and set my
computer back up, but was then hit with an Invalid Activation Key error,
claiming my Vista wasn't genuine. I again reinstalled Vista(because I was
only able to use the webbrowser), and am met with the same problem. My copy
of Vista is real, how do I fix this error? I don't want to have to erase
everything again. Vista has been a terrible experience, not worth the trouble
at all, but it's all I have.

Hi,

Does the error message actually say it's not genuine? Or that it's in use?
The latter is normal for a key that was previously activated, all you need
do is use the phone activation method.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Fenriswulf" <Fenriswulf@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A391C3E4-2465-4161-B3F7-AF7120714B45@microsoft.com...
>I have had Vista for awhile now, and it has been a non-stop pain. Error
>after
> error, with absolutely no help from microsoft. I've had to figure it out
> on
> my own, and just a few days ago recovered from update errors. I had to
> format
> my HDD, and lost all my info. I have now reinstalled Vista, and set my
> computer back up, but was then hit with an Invalid Activation Key error,
> claiming my Vista wasn't genuine. I again reinstalled Vista(because I was
> only able to use the webbrowser), and am met with the same problem. My
> copy
> of Vista is real, how do I fix this error? I don't want to have to erase
> everything again. Vista has been a terrible experience, not worth the
> trouble
> at all, but it's all I have.

I tried the phone activation, my Vista is OEM, so of course, Microsoft will
only help for a ridiculous price. It's just such a pain, I don't recommend
Vista to anyone, wait until the next program comes out, then maybe Vista will
actually work.

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Does the error message actually say it's not genuine? Or that it's in use?
> The latter is normal for a key that was previously activated, all you need
> do is use the phone activation method.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "Fenriswulf" <Fenriswulf@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A391C3E4-2465-4161-B3F7-AF7120714B45@microsoft.com...
> >I have had Vista for awhile now, and it has been a non-stop pain. Error
> >after
> > error, with absolutely no help from microsoft. I've had to figure it out
> > on
> > my own, and just a few days ago recovered from update errors. I had to
> > format
> > my HDD, and lost all my info. I have now reinstalled Vista, and set my
> > computer back up, but was then hit with an Invalid Activation Key error,
> > claiming my Vista wasn't genuine. I again reinstalled Vista(because I was
> > only able to use the webbrowser), and am met with the same problem. My
> > copy
> > of Vista is real, how do I fix this error? I don't want to have to erase
> > everything again. Vista has been a terrible experience, not worth the
> > trouble
> > at all, but it's all I have.
>
>

Microsoft does not charge for product activation, regardless of whether it's
OEM or retail. OEM versions are charged for support incidents only.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Fenriswulf" <Fenriswulf@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7D7DDC08-93A2-4193-962D-D946DC587599@microsoft.com...
>I tried the phone activation, my Vista is OEM, so of course, Microsoft will
> only help for a ridiculous price. It's just such a pain, I don't recommend
> Vista to anyone, wait until the next program comes out, then maybe Vista
> will
> actually work.
>
> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Does the error message actually say it's not genuine? Or that it's in
>> use?
>> The latter is normal for a key that was previously activated, all you
>> need
>> do is use the phone activation method.
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>>
>> "Fenriswulf" <Fenriswulf@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:A391C3E4-2465-4161-B3F7-AF7120714B45@microsoft.com...
>> >I have had Vista for awhile now, and it has been a non-stop pain. Error
>> >after
>> > error, with absolutely no help from microsoft. I've had to figure it
>> > out
>> > on
>> > my own, and just a few days ago recovered from update errors. I had to
>> > format
>> > my HDD, and lost all my info. I have now reinstalled Vista, and set my
>> > computer back up, but was then hit with an Invalid Activation Key
>> > error,
>> > claiming my Vista wasn't genuine. I again reinstalled Vista(because I
>> > was
>> > only able to use the webbrowser), and am met with the same problem. My
>> > copy
>> > of Vista is real, how do I fix this error? I don't want to have to
>> > erase
>> > everything again. Vista has been a terrible experience, not worth the
>> > trouble
>> > at all, but it's all I have.
>>
>>