Please Help With Windows Vista! Installing and Upgrading Vista Discuss Please Help With Windows Vista! in the Windows Vista forums; On January 8, 2007 I ordered a laptop that had XP Media Center but was Vista upgradable and said that I can get a free Vista upgrade when Vista was ...

[stevennodalo]

On January 8, 2007 I ordered a laptop that had XP Media Center but was Vista upgradable and said that I can get a free Vista upgrade when Vista was released. In February, after Vista came out, I ordered another laptop with Vista Home Premium on it. I talked to a sales representative from HP and he said I can use the Vista cd from the laptop i ordered in Feb, onto the laptop I ordered in January. Well, unfortunately, he was wrong. I installed it and it worked for about a month and now it wont let me access anything unless I type in a new product key. I can get a free Vista upgrade from windows, but will a Vista upgrade key work? Do i have to buy the Vista Home Premium in order to activate my laptop? I have been unable to use my laptop since 3 weeks ago and everyday i contact HP AND MICROSOFT about this and all of the operators (who can barely speak english) have trouble understanding me and direct me somewhere else until it has been hours and hours of waiting and redirecting and they finally tell me that they can't help me. Please, can someone help me out?

[Snuffy]

I ordered a laptop that had XP Media Center but was Vista upgradable and said that I can get a free Vista upgrade when Vista was released..

Yes your manufacture owes you a "KEY" and the "Upgrade" disk...
and upgrade keys only work when you upgrade...
1. XP on system - upgrade to Vista use the Key - it works.
2. Vista on the system -installed with NO KEY. then while booted to Vista, again insert the DVD and install using the "Upgrade Key" it will work.

I have Vista Ultimate (upgrade) and the manual says that is the way you CLEAN install Vista and then use the UPGRADE Key to upgrade and activate.
Unless HP is allowing more than one (1) install per "KEY" the least they "OWN" you another "KEY"...my additional online purchases from MS was KEY by EMail only...
If you have the Upgrade Certificate call MS and they will issue you your second KEY for appropiate version.

[stevennodalo]

I just checked the disc that came with the laptop that i purchased in February and on it, it says Windows Anytime Upgrade. It is a blue disc and at the top it says "A convenient and affordable way to upgrade Windows Vista." Does this mean that if i get my free upgrade, then I will be able to use the key? If so... you said that you emailed them for a product key and they emailed you a product key, is that correct? Can you please direct me to more information on how to do so.

Also, what will happen if I just install Vista again? Will I be able to access my files for a temporary amount of time again? I am a full time college student and all of my work and notes are on the laptop. Midterms are approaching and I need to use those files, which is another reason why I cannot wait for the 4-6 week shipping period for the free upgrade.

[felix8406]

You can use it for another 120-days, hopefully by that time you have received the key they owe you.

Go to Start > All Programs > Accesories > Right click the Comand Prompt and select Run as Administrator > type slmgr -rearm and press the Enter key > Restart the PC

This will give you another 30-days. Repeat this at 30-days interval if you have not received the key

[Znod]

Originally Posted by stevennodalo

On January 8, 2007 I ordered a laptop that had XP Media Center but was Vista upgradable and said that I can get a free Vista upgrade when Vista was released. In February, after Vista came out, I ordered another laptop with Vista Home Premium on it. I talked to a sales representative from HP and he said I can use the Vista cd from the laptop i ordered in Feb, onto the laptop I ordered in January. Well, unfortunately, he was wrong. I installed it and it worked for about a month and now it wont let me access anything unless I type in a new product key. I can get a free Vista upgrade from windows, but will a Vista upgrade key work? Do i have to buy the Vista Home Premium in order to activate my laptop? I have been unable to use my laptop since 3 weeks ago and everyday i contact HP AND MICROSOFT about this and all of the operators (who can barely speak english) have trouble understanding me and direct me somewhere else until it has been hours and hours of waiting and redirecting and they finally tell me that they can't help me. Please, can someone help me out?

What HP told you is very unfortunate. You can upgrade from Media Center to Home Premium. You could reinstall Media Center and then upgrade after you get your free upgrade. The free upgrade program is about to end so, assuming that you quality, you don't have much time to apply. And, receiving the free upgrades is taking an extreme amount of time. Alternatively, you could reinstall Media Center and buy an educational upgrade to Home Premium for about $70--which is likely to be much faster. As things stand, you are violating the Vista EULA, and, IMO, if you rearm for an additional period, the you will be breaking it twice--assuming the rearm will work when running in reduced functionality mode. You will not be able to use any upgrade disk unless you install a legitimate copy of XP first.

[dazzlin]

Also keep in mind that Vista Babble does not, and never will, condone breaking any EULA. Now, with that said, you have legitimate recourses to solving the problems as others have advised above, although I can't guarantee those recourses will be quick enough. Good luck!