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Windows Activation Problem

Question
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I have had my laptop for 3 years. I recently got a new laptop and this old one was not used for about a month.
I want to give this to my niece. I turned it on today to set it up for her and now I get a message that this Windows Vista version is not genuine and I must activate it. I typed in the Product Key from the back of the laptop and I get an error message that the key is not valid. For some reason the Product Key is for Windows Vista Home Premium but the Windows Vista program it requires is Windows Vista Ultimate. Would you please help me? I cannot access anything except the Internet. I cannot access the start menu, control panel, disk drives, etc. Thank you for your assistance.
Sunday, October 10, 2010 7:46 PM
Answers
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"fla8675309" wrote in message news:9eac516d-c301-4f19-8026-976044bc62bd...
I have had my laptop for 3 years. I recently got a new laptop and this old one was not used for about a month.
I want to give this to my niece. I turned it on today to set it up for her and now I get a message that this Windows Vista version is not genuine and I must activate it. I typed in the Product Key from the back of the laptop and I get an error message that the key is not valid. For some reason the Product Key is for Windows Vista Home Premium but the Windows Vista program it requires is Windows Vista Ultimate. Would you please help me? I cannot access anything except the Internet. I cannot access the start menu, control panel, disk drives, etc. Thank you for your assistance.
The chances are that either
1) you used an Anytime Upgrade to upgrade the PC to Win Ultimate
or
2) someone installed a counterfeit copy of Win Ultimate in an attempt to fix a problem with the existing installation.
To properly analyse and solve problems with Activation and Validation, we need to see a full copy of the report produced by the MGADiag tool (download and save to desktop - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012 )
Once saved, run the tool.
Click on the Continue button, which will produce the report.
To copy the report to your response, click on the Copy button in the tool (ignore any error messages at this point), and then paste (using either r-click/Paste, or Ctrl+V ) into your response.
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Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth- Proposed as answer by David. FModerator Monday, October 11, 2010 8:28 PM
- Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Friday, October 15, 2010 6:22 PM
Sunday, October 10, 2010 8:11 PMModerator
All replies
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To help us analyze and troubleshoot a non-genuine notification issue you may be experiencing, please download and run the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostics Tool.
Once you run the tool, click on the Continue button, then click on the Copy button and Paste the report into your post, along with your question.
Thank you!
Carey FrischSunday, October 10, 2010 8:03 PMModerator -
"fla8675309" wrote in message news:9eac516d-c301-4f19-8026-976044bc62bd...
I have had my laptop for 3 years. I recently got a new laptop and this old one was not used for about a month.
I want to give this to my niece. I turned it on today to set it up for her and now I get a message that this Windows Vista version is not genuine and I must activate it. I typed in the Product Key from the back of the laptop and I get an error message that the key is not valid. For some reason the Product Key is for Windows Vista Home Premium but the Windows Vista program it requires is Windows Vista Ultimate. Would you please help me? I cannot access anything except the Internet. I cannot access the start menu, control panel, disk drives, etc. Thank you for your assistance.
The chances are that either
1) you used an Anytime Upgrade to upgrade the PC to Win Ultimate
or
2) someone installed a counterfeit copy of Win Ultimate in an attempt to fix a problem with the existing installation.
To properly analyse and solve problems with Activation and Validation, we need to see a full copy of the report produced by the MGADiag tool (download and save to desktop - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012 )
Once saved, run the tool.
Click on the Continue button, which will produce the report.
To copy the report to your response, click on the Copy button in the tool (ignore any error messages at this point), and then paste (using either r-click/Paste, or Ctrl+V ) into your response.
--
Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth- Proposed as answer by David. FModerator Monday, October 11, 2010 8:28 PM
- Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Friday, October 15, 2010 6:22 PM
Sunday, October 10, 2010 8:11 PMModerator -
No reply from the Original Poster.
Issue is assumed to be resolved.
Darin MSFriday, October 15, 2010 6:22 PM