Changing Vista retail disc to an OEM?

[Elemdee]

I had an OEM Win XP Pro (no SP's) not activate using the Microsoft Phone method. It was an old Compaq laptop that needed a reinstall. Tried entering the key during install and got the error that the key was invalid so I skipped that step and tried activating by phone. Then contacted HP chat, went through an hour of chat (all saved in a word document for future laughs) in which they said without an HP recovery CD, which they could no longer provide, the customer would have to repurchase XP. eh?

[HubCityPC]

Just an update for those that are interested...the phone activation worked. I called the number that was provided and the entire process was automated. The automated system gave me a key and once that was entered Windows activated.

Next time I will try not entering a key during setup and see how that goes.

Thanks for all of the great input. I appreciate everyone's tips.

This was the first encounter I had installing Vista from a Technet disc since the customer did not have his original media. I've encouraged him to contact Sony for a replacement disc as it's likely he will need it sometime in the future.

I'm still trying to locate a trial copy of Office 2007 Student for him so I can use the key I sucked off of his computer before I wiped it. All trial versions online now are for 2010. Hopefully he learned his lesson and will keep track of his installation discs now...but I seriously doubt it!

Thanks again,
Kevin

[Martyn]

I've just done an OEM Vista install this morning with a Technet CD and the activation worked fine by phone.

[norm1320]

Originally Posted by HubCityPC

Just an update for those that are interested...the phone activation worked. I called the number that was provided and the entire process was automated. The automated system gave me a key and once that was entered Windows activated.

Next time I will try not entering a key during setup and see how that goes.

If you forget and put the key in during installation, you can still do the "change key" trick, just type the same key in again. It will work unless there is actually a problem with the key itself.

[HubCityPC]

Originally Posted by norm1320

If you forget and put the key in during installation, you can still do the "change key" trick, just type the same key in again. It will work unless there is actually a problem with the key itself.

I didn't try that because i just figured it failed the first time so... but that's an interesting tip. Hopefully I'm not in that situation again but if so, I'll definitely give that a try.

Thanks!

Kevin