Solved Vista upgrade disc and COA.

[eddiebelfast]

Hi, I recently bought a second hand Acer Aspire 5633, minus the hard drive and the power jack slightly faulty. The seller threw in an Acer Vista upgrade disk as compensation for the lack of hard drive and OS. This had never been used and came in an envelope with another Acer upgrade driver disk plus the COA sticker to be attached to the comp. I stripped the comp down and repaired the power jack, inserted a spare hard drive and ran the Vista upgrade sans number. The upgrade was a full install disc i.e. it didn't require a previous Windows OS present on the hard drive.
After installing I then went online to authenticate it. Microsoft came back with the message, "This doesn't appear to be a valid Vista number".
I double and triple checked the number and tried it several times to no avail.
Could anybody offer a solution, please. The only suggestion I can think of is it's out of date?
cheers,
Eddie.

 

[Brink]

Hello Eddie,

You might see if you may be able to activate by phone instead.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/84488-activate-vista-phone.html

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[eddiebelfast]

Hello Eddie,

You might see if you may be able to activate by phone instead.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/84488-activate-vista-phone.html

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

Hi Brink, Unfortunately that won't work. After the failed activation I reinstalled Vista Business ( I have two licensed Vista Business which weren't being used ) so the phone activation won't apply.
I have looked at trying to contact Microsoft but as yet cannot find the correct number, for this particular prob.
As a last resort I might try and ask Acer, but as anyone who has contacted Acer for help will tell you, don't hold your breath.
cheers,
Eddie.

 

[Brink]

You should be able to still call the 1-800 number to activate online, but instead ask the operator to verify if the product key is valid.

 

[eddiebelfast]

You should be able to still call the 1-800 number to activate online, but instead ask the operator to verify if the product key is valid.

Hi Brink, OK. will try in the morrow. I called Acer up and got the usual, we won't/don't help if you didn't personally buy it etc. Chap got quite snooty, so I just politely thanked him and wished him a good day!
cheers,
Eddie.

 

[Brink]

Wow, that's a real great way for Acer to stand behind their products.

 

[eddiebelfast]

Wow, that's a real great way for Acer to stand behind their products.

Hi Brink, I actually have two Acer laptops. The first is an Acer Aspire 1804 ( 7 yrs old ) which is completely ( as in 100% ) original. The battery still shows 100% charge. The H/D has never troubled me. It boots first time every time. Came from the factory with 2 gig of ram and still looks mint.
The second is the Acer 5633 which also is in mint condition. ( Mint is a Car sales term, it means like new, if you are aware of this I apologise.), which is the one this thread was started for.
I have contacted Microsoft but gave up when they said the call was free but the help wasn't. I didn't fancy talking to a young lady who appeared to be from the Philipines, i.e. going through a long explanation and then her telling me, sorry can't help you.
I have posed this question on an Acer laptop forum but as yet no replies.
So, Brink, again thanks for your help and may I ask that you close this thread as fixed/cured?
cheers,
Eddie.

 

[Brink]

Ok Eddie. If you install the OEM version again on that PC, you may be able to activate by phone.

 

[eddiebelfast]

Ok Eddie. If you install the OEM version again on that PC, you may be able to activate by phone.

There was/is nothing wrong with the Product key.
The answer to this prob is found here. Search Vista MediaBootInstall. This also applies to Win7.
The prob was created by me not entering the product key as per a normal install, there were no instructions with the Upgrade package.
Windows expects to see a previous version of Windows installed. If it doesn't see it then the product key becomes invalid.
In the dim dark past of yesteryear an upgrade disk would be required to be placed in the OOD or Floppy drive and checked before the upgrade could proceed.

 

[Brink]

Ah, ok. For a clean install of an upgrade, you would not enter the product key or activate with the first install.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/68767-clean-install-upgrade-vista.html

 

[townsbg]

Yes a clean install of Vista upgrade license will give you that error when you try to activate. You either need to enter in a qualifying serial number during install or perform an upgrade install on a full license. If you call the activation people you might get someone nice enough to help you. I have had them refuse to help me and I have also had them help me. As a hint if you have an XP serial number give them that because they know that a upgrade install cannot be performed on XP hence the need for a clean install.