Hello lesnubian,
Instead of Activating over the Internet, try Activating by Phone.
To Activate By Phone:
Click the Start button, and type in "slui.exe 4" in the search field and then press the "Enter" key. This will bring up the Activate by Phone dialog window. Follow the steps provided by the window. The phone activation process should only take about 6 minutes.
Also, computers built by Large Manufacturers that come with Vista Pre-installed self-activate at the factory and, as such, do not normally require activation. If your Vista is asking to be activated and Activating by Phone does not work, please download and run the Genuine Diagnostics tool at this link http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012. Click "Continue" click the Windows tab, click the "Copy" button, then paste the report into a response message in this thread.
Thank you,
Darin Smith
WGA Forum Manager