87. Product Key Already In Use
So you've just re-installed Windows Vista,
painstakingly installed all your third party
software and am now in the process of activating
your copy of Windows Vista.
You go through the activation process only to
find that a message appears informing you that 'Your
product key is already in use' and, consequently,
you cannot activate this copy of Vista.
Microsoft activation is flagging your product key
number because, according to their records, it
already exists on the PC you are currently using and
you have already activated the key once. This is
basically an anti piracy restriction to prevent, a)
illegal copying and b) installing the same copy of
Vista onto another machine. You will find that you
get a similar warning after upgrading certain
hardware in your PC. However, this shouldn't be a
problem just follow the instructions below and
activation should proceed without any problems.
1/ Click the Start Button.
2/ In the Search box type:
slui.exe 4 and then press
Enter.
3/ In the find available phone number for
activation window, Select the nearest
location to where you lie from the location box. You
can click on the arrow to the right
of the location box to expand you choice of
locations.
4/ Once you have selected your Location, Click
Next.
5/ If the User Account Control
box appears, Click Continue or, if
you are not the administrator, type
in the relevant user name and
password for permission to
continue.
6/ The Activate Windows Now
window will appear showing the telephone number you
need to dial along with a set of
installation ID numbers.
7/ Now dial the activation
number displayed on the screen. The telephone number
is toll free (free phone) unless
stated otherwise.
8/ You should understand that, initially, the
Activation line is Automated, so
you will be asked to input the numbers displayed on
your screen using your Telephone keypad.
9/ Once the numbers have been inputted, via your
Telephone keypad, the automated service will issue
you with another set of numbers
which you will have to Type into
the Dialogue box displayed on your
computer screen.
10/ You now need to follow the
instructions issued by the Automated
service in order to Activate your copy.
11/ If, after going through this process, the
Activation service informs you that the product
cannot be activated then DO
NOT slam the phone down in rage. Instead
STAY ON THE LINE and your call will
be transferred to an Activation operative,
in other words a real person who
will assist you in Activating your copy of Windows
Vista.
12/ I am aware that going through these steps can
be a pain but, nine times out of ten, Activation is
automatic and can be accomplished quite easily over
the internet. This is the reason why the service is
automated. Admittedly sometimes the automated system
cannot help and when this happens you are put
through to someone who can help you.