Vista not allowing activation after reformatting more than twice?

Hello all,

I seem to have a problem:

I have the retail, "PowerTogether" (Microsoft Business Partner) Vista
Business.

Originally I installed it back in January as a test, activated it, and it
worked great.

I experienced some hardware problems with my HDDs a few weeks after that, so
I reformatted all my data, reinstalled and reactivated Vista fresh, and it
worked fine.

Just this week, I decided I wanted Vista on my primary HDD partition, so
once and for all, I decided to reformat and install Vista again, and upon
trying to activate, I get an error message saying my key is already in use.


I was under the impression with a retail copy of Vista you could
(re)activate as many times as needed without hassle. But now, on my third
reactivation attempt, it says my key is in use.
If it matters, none of my hardware has changed (save for my system RAM),
it's the same computer...I've just reformatted a couple times since
originally installing Vista.

What can I do? How can I get Vista to activate my legitimate key again? And
is it not true you can reformat once in awhile without worrying about
reactivation problems?

Thanks to anyone who replies!

-Gordon

Use the phone method of activation.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"GordonJ" <> wrote in message
news:2AAAB7D0-0220-46FD-A204-...
> Hello all,
>
> I seem to have a problem:
>
> I have the retail, "PowerTogether" (Microsoft Business Partner) Vista
> Business.
>
> Originally I installed it back in January as a test, activated it, and it
> worked great.
>
> I experienced some hardware problems with my HDDs a few weeks after that,
> so
> I reformatted all my data, reinstalled and reactivated Vista fresh, and it
> worked fine.
>
> Just this week, I decided I wanted Vista on my primary HDD partition, so
> once and for all, I decided to reformat and install Vista again, and upon
> trying to activate, I get an error message saying my key is already in
> use.
>
>
> I was under the impression with a retail copy of Vista you could
> (re)activate as many times as needed without hassle. But now, on my third
> reactivation attempt, it says my key is in use.
> If it matters, none of my hardware has changed (save for my system RAM),
> it's the same computer...I've just reformatted a couple times since
> originally installing Vista.
>
> What can I do? How can I get Vista to activate my legitimate key again?
> And
> is it not true you can reformat once in awhile without worrying about
> reactivation problems?
>
> Thanks to anyone who replies!
>
> -Gordon
>

Yes, thats what I ended up doing. Thanks for the reply!

One more question though, is that what I'll need to do every time I
reactivate Windows from now on?
I'm planning to upgrade my system in the coming months, and would probably
need to reformat. Can I just use the phone method again as many times as I
need without any problems? Or is there a limit there as well?

Thanks!

"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> Use the phone method of activation.
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
> "GordonJ" <> wrote in message
> news:2AAAB7D0-0220-46FD-A204-...
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I seem to have a problem:
> >
> > I have the retail, "PowerTogether" (Microsoft Business Partner) Vista
> > Business.
> >
> > Originally I installed it back in January as a test, activated it, and it
> > worked great.
> >
> > I experienced some hardware problems with my HDDs a few weeks after that,
> > so
> > I reformatted all my data, reinstalled and reactivated Vista fresh, and it
> > worked fine.
> >
> > Just this week, I decided I wanted Vista on my primary HDD partition, so
> > once and for all, I decided to reformat and install Vista again, and upon
> > trying to activate, I get an error message saying my key is already in
> > use.
> >
> >
> > I was under the impression with a retail copy of Vista you could
> > (re)activate as many times as needed without hassle. But now, on my third
> > reactivation attempt, it says my key is in use.
> > If it matters, none of my hardware has changed (save for my system RAM),
> > it's the same computer...I've just reformatted a couple times since
> > originally installing Vista.
> >
> > What can I do? How can I get Vista to activate my legitimate key again?
> > And
> > is it not true you can reformat once in awhile without worrying about
> > reactivation problems?
> >
> > Thanks to anyone who replies!
> >
> > -Gordon
> >
>
>

AFAIK there's no limit to the number of times you can activate.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"GordonJ" <> wrote in message
news6D0B815-4DFA-478A-A103-...
> Yes, thats what I ended up doing. Thanks for the reply!
>
> One more question though, is that what I'll need to do every time I
> reactivate Windows from now on?
> I'm planning to upgrade my system in the coming months, and would probably
> need to reformat. Can I just use the phone method again as many times as I
> need without any problems? Or is there a limit there as well?
>
> Thanks!
>
> "Kerry Brown" wrote:
>
>> Use the phone method of activation.
>>
>> --
>> Kerry Brown
>> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
>> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>>
>>
>> "GordonJ" <> wrote in message
>> news:2AAAB7D0-0220-46FD-A204-...
>> > Hello all,
>> >
>> > I seem to have a problem:
>> >
>> > I have the retail, "PowerTogether" (Microsoft Business Partner) Vista
>> > Business.
>> >
>> > Originally I installed it back in January as a test, activated it, and
>> > it
>> > worked great.
>> >
>> > I experienced some hardware problems with my HDDs a few weeks after
>> > that,
>> > so
>> > I reformatted all my data, reinstalled and reactivated Vista fresh, and
>> > it
>> > worked fine.
>> >
>> > Just this week, I decided I wanted Vista on my primary HDD partition,
>> > so
>> > once and for all, I decided to reformat and install Vista again, and
>> > upon
>> > trying to activate, I get an error message saying my key is already in
>> > use.
>> >
>> >
>> > I was under the impression with a retail copy of Vista you could
>> > (re)activate as many times as needed without hassle. But now, on my
>> > third
>> > reactivation attempt, it says my key is in use.
>> > If it matters, none of my hardware has changed (save for my system
>> > RAM),
>> > it's the same computer...I've just reformatted a couple times since
>> > originally installing Vista.
>> >
>> > What can I do? How can I get Vista to activate my legitimate key again?
>> > And
>> > is it not true you can reformat once in awhile without worrying about
>> > reactivation problems?
>> >
>> > Thanks to anyone who replies!
>> >
>> > -Gordon
>> >
>>
>>

There are no limits to the number of times you can activate.

In previous versions of Windows (XP) the activation time clock was reset
after 120 days, which enabled you to re-activate automatically, over the
internet without the need to make the phone call. I'm not sure this is the
case with Vista as the activation information has not been published yet and
there is no user documentation since Vista is still new.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"GordonJ" <> wrote in message
news6D0B815-4DFA-478A-A103-...
> Yes, thats what I ended up doing. Thanks for the reply!
>
> One more question though, is that what I'll need to do every time I
> reactivate Windows from now on?
> I'm planning to upgrade my system in the coming months, and would probably
> need to reformat. Can I just use the phone method again as many times as I
> need without any problems? Or is there a limit there as well?
>
> Thanks!
>
> "Kerry Brown" wrote:
>
>> Use the phone method of activation.
>>
>> --
>> Kerry Brown
>> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
>> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>>
>>
>> "GordonJ" <> wrote in message
>> news:2AAAB7D0-0220-46FD-A204-...
>> > Hello all,
>> >
>> > I seem to have a problem:
>> >
>> > I have the retail, "PowerTogether" (Microsoft Business Partner) Vista
>> > Business.
>> >
>> > Originally I installed it back in January as a test, activated it, and
>> > it
>> > worked great.
>> >
>> > I experienced some hardware problems with my HDDs a few weeks after
>> > that,
>> > so
>> > I reformatted all my data, reinstalled and reactivated Vista fresh, and
>> > it
>> > worked fine.
>> >
>> > Just this week, I decided I wanted Vista on my primary HDD partition,
>> > so
>> > once and for all, I decided to reformat and install Vista again, and
>> > upon
>> > trying to activate, I get an error message saying my key is already in
>> > use.
>> >
>> >
>> > I was under the impression with a retail copy of Vista you could
>> > (re)activate as many times as needed without hassle. But now, on my
>> > third
>> > reactivation attempt, it says my key is in use.
>> > If it matters, none of my hardware has changed (save for my system
>> > RAM),
>> > it's the same computer...I've just reformatted a couple times since
>> > originally installing Vista.
>> >
>> > What can I do? How can I get Vista to activate my legitimate key again?
>> > And
>> > is it not true you can reformat once in awhile without worrying about
>> > reactivation problems?
>> >
>> > Thanks to anyone who replies!
>> >
>> > -Gordon
>> >
>>
>>