Pschorf,
Thank you for visiting the Genuine Advantage forum. Your issue is related to Windows Product Activation. Activation is outside of the scope for this forum. We assist with Validation issues. In an attempt to assist I would like to provide some information which may or may not help.
From the Desktop:
a) If you have access to the Start button: 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.
b) If you do not have access to the Start button: Reboot and login to Vista, a dialog window will come up. In that window, click the option "Access computer with reduced functionality". Once you do that, Internet Explorer or Firefox browser will open. In the address bar type "c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe" press enter, a new window will come up, type: slui 4 and hit enter and follow steps to Activate over the Phone.
Also you may reference the following site for various Telephone Activation Centers:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326851
If you work for a company or organization, you will need to contact your IT Administrator to get the information needed for contacting support for the MS product licenses your company has purchased.
Thank you for visiting the Genuine Advantage forum.
Rick
I suggest posting your question to the “Windows Vista discussion groups” here:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx
