Question about Activation Other Vista Discussions Discuss Question about Activation in the Windows Vista forums; I won a free "ready to launch" copy of Vista the other day and just installed it today on my laptop. I used the product key to do ...

[johng]

I won a free "ready to launch" copy of Vista the other day and just installed it today on my laptop.

I used the product key to do the installation. I have not activated it yet and Vista is giving me a 3 day grace period. Unfortunately I feel like my laptop could do better with XP. I have been feeling my laptop get a little warmer than usual. This is not a problem right now but I'm thinking down the road, and feel like overtime the ram will get exhausted, and in general my computer components will most likely wear out quicker with VIsta.

My question is the following...If I Uninstall Vista and go back to XP before the 3 day grace period is over, will the product key still be valid? I am thinking of selling this bad boy on ebay and want to make sure that the person buying it does not get screwed over. I have not activated it over the internet, rather just used the key to get through the installation process.

Any clues?

[airman]

I would look into the EULA for this copy the copy of Vista you got for free and see whether it is an OEM version or Retail version and follow the rules for selling to another party. This is a very grey area as seen by a lot of people. I know for a fact the free copy of Business I have it says right on it not for resale and to go to www.microsoft.com/useterms/ for more info. Good Luck

[johng]

The front of it says "ready for a new day" and says "full version of Windows Vista Business."

I am amusing it is identical to the retail version.

The back does say "not for resale" but I'm sure that any copy you buy of Vista, regardless of OEM or not, will also say "not for resale." In addition, I have also seen the exact copy that I have on ebay.

My main area of concern was whether the product key will still work for someone else if I have only used that key to install, and not activate.

[Snuffy]

The answer to Installed with but Not Activated...Yes, it should BE Good for Activation later.

[johng]

Originally Posted by Snuffy

The answer to Installed with but Not Activated...Yes, it should BE Good for Activation later.

Thats what I thought...If this in fact turns out to be incorrect, I can always refund the buyer.