Vista self deactivation

[bola]

I recently purchased Windows Vista Business OEM, installed it on my laptop, and successfully activated it online. Yesterday, 9 days after installation, I realized that Vista had deactivated itself.

In the Windows Activation window, I have a warning telling me : "You must activate Windows within 2 days or Windows will stop working".

When I try to reactivate Windows with my original product key, I get the error : "The product key you typed is already in use".

My guess is that some minor changes, like updating the driver of the integrated memory stick reader or changing the DVD writer firmware, were enough for Vista to change the Windows product ID and ask me for a new activation.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem ?

Has anyone tried to reactivate an OEM version with the original product key ?

When trying to view the current license information, I also get an error.

In the Windows Activation window, use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and then Shift + F10 to display the Extended Licence information, choose option "Show me the current Active Windows license" and click "go" :

An error occurred while gathering license information.

Error Code: 0x00000000

Description:

The operation completed successfully.

Edited February 27, 2007 by bola

[prx984]

Thats odd. You may want to contact Microsoft about it.

[bola]

The reactivation of my Windows Vista copy worked fine by phone, it took about 5 minutes.

At least I could mention that I had to try more than 10 times before Windows activation process worked.

I will think twice before I update any drivers or change my DVD writer firmware again!

Microsoft help page : http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/e...eb48b51033.mspx

To the question Will I ever need to activate my current copy of Windows again?

Microsoft answers :

Maybe. You might have to activate Windows again if:

• You uninstall Windows on one computer and install it on another. During installation, enter the product key that came with your copy of Windows. If automatic activation fails, follow the instructions that walk you through activating Windows by phone. You will have 30 days to activate your copy of Windows.

• You make a significant hardware change to your computer, such as upgrading the hard disk and memory at the same time. If a major hardware change requires activating Windows again, you will be notified and will have three days to activate your copy of Windows.

• You reformat your hard disk. Reformatting erases your activation status. In this case, you’ll have 30 days to activate Windows again.

• A virus infects your computer and deletes your activation status.

If you have to activate Windows again, you don't need to buy a new product key.

Edited February 25, 2007 by bola

[cdorobantu]

@bola

Take a look at this:

Vista Re-activation

[bola]

Thanks!

Now that Windows has been reactivated by phone, the patch refuses to install.

I guess I will apply it next time Windows Vista deactivates itself.

MS Knowledge Base Article : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931573

[bola]

Once again, for the 2nd time, Vista deactivated itself for some undefined reason (no hardware changes).

After a reboot, I got the message "Your activation period has expired" ... The online (re)activation process worked at that point!

I loggued in and thought it was ok (after all, that was my 3rd activation of the same Vista install on the same laptop).

Today (one week later), in order to update an old Windows 2000 machine, I needed some patches from Microsoft (Genuine check required) and realized that Vista was activated (or at least saying so) but not recognized as such on the Microsoft website.

The Genuine check error message is :

"Windows must be activated before validation can determine if this copy of Windows is genuine."

The solution to this problem seems to be the phone activation, but since I was already forced to call MS for re-activation 2 months ago, I feel more like switching to OSX right now ...

Oh, and since Vista is not seen as activated/genuine on MS website, I cannot download the previously mentioned patch that should be installed before phone re-activation (vista re-activation patch)

Vista is genuine, not genuine or both :

Thanks Vista

Edited May 28, 2007 by bola