[gumby701]

The story:

Finally got a new computer (with no OS), but couldn't find the vista disk. I installed XP Home instead. I have the HDD from my old computer but Vista complains about the configuration (I got error 0x7B ), so I downloaded the recovery disk. The startup repair can't fix it, but I should be able to do a normal repair, BUT I need the Vista key. Right now I have the Vista drive hooked up as a secondary drive. Is there any way to retrieve the key?

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Hello,
Your Vista disc will not boot on a new machine because when it was installed a number was created based on the hardware (motherbord, processor, ETc...).
The new hardware does not match the number that relates to the old hardware.
The key was used to activate Vista based on this number.
You can not use this key on a different machine.
If you work around this you will be commiting a crime. I will not help you to do anything illegal.

[hfcg]

Hello,
Your Vista disc will not boot on a new machine because when it was installed a number was created based on the hardware (motherbord, processor, ETc...).
The new hardware does not match the number that relates to the old hardware.
The key was used to activate Vista based on this number.
You can not use this key on a different machine.
If you work around this you will be commiting a crime. I will not help you to do anything illegal.

[gumby701]

How is that illegal?! You are allowed to install Vista on another machine, as long as it is on one at a time.

"15. REASSIGN TO ANOTHER DEVICE.
a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. You may uninstall the software and
install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between
devices."

I'm reinstalling Vista on the same HDD, there will only be one copy if it installed in my possession.

[hfcg]

The license died with the motherboard.
You can install the software on another hard drive as long as it is the same machine.
You can not put the same software on a different machine, even if you are using the hard drive that was in the original machine.
If you try to activate this key on a different machine it will not activate.
Call Microsoft and ask them if you do not believe me.
One key-one computer.

[hfcg]

Product activiation in the Vista license
Suppose you buy a new computer after January 2007, or purchase an early upgrade for one of the various flavors of Vista. The first problem is, you may think you bought a copy of the operating system. Actually, the OS is still owned by Microsoft. You may own a physical DVD, but what you have “bought” is the right to use the software subject to any of the terms and conditions of the End User License Agreement (EULA), which you may or may not have access to at the time you buy the computer or disk. Typically, the EULA will be contained in micro-print on the outside of a DVD, or may be on a splash screen that prompts you to unequivocally declare, “I agree..” as a condition precedent to installing or booting the software. Courts have pretty much established that this manner of acquiescence is okay, provided that there is some way for you to get your money back if you don’t agree to the EULA.

The Vista EULA informs the licensee that Vista will automatically send information about the version, language and product key of the software, the user's Internet protocol address of the device, and information derived from the hardware configuration of the device.


Once you activate the product, then you would assume that you are golden to go ahead and use the product, right? Wrong.

You see, even after you activate the software it will, according to the EULA, “from time to time validate the software, update or require download of the validation feature of the software.” It will once again “send information about the . . . version and product key of the software, and the Internet protocol address of the device.”

Here’s where it gets hairy again. If for some reason the software “phones home” back to Redmond, Washington, and gets or gives the wrong answer - irrespective of the reason - it will automatically disable itself. That's like saying definitively, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that...” Unless you can prove to the satisfaction of some automoton that the software is “Genuine,” or more accurately, that under the relevant copyright laws that you have satisfied the requirements of the copyright laws and all of the terms of the End User License Agreement, the software will, on its own, go into a “protect Microsoft” mode. Besides placing an annoying “Get Genuine” banner on the screen, and limiting your ability to get upgrades, the EULA warns that “you may not be able to use or continue to use some of the features of the software.” The EULA itself does not state which features these are, but the website advises that, unless you can show that you are genuine, you won’t be able to use Windows ReadyBoost™, whcih lets users use a removable flash memory device; the Windows Aero™ 3D visual experince; or the Windows Defender anti-spyware program.

[gumby701]

The error I get has nothing to do with that. It is a bluescreen, not an activation thing. It is caused by my new motherboard having a different SATA mode. I will reactivate it if necessary when I reinstall. I can't find the case the DVD came in (or the DVD itself), so I need to pull my installation key off of the HDD. The same key that comes in the case when you buy it. There is nothing illegal about it.

And this is part of the EULA:

"15. REASSIGN TO ANOTHER DEVICE.
a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. You may uninstall the software and
install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between
devices."

How do you explain that?

"The license died with the motherboard." BS. You can call Microsoft yourself and ask. You are allowed to transfer between computers.

---

http://blogs.zdnet.c...&tag=rbxccnbzd1

Read this little article. You might find it enlightening.

Edited by gumby701, 07 September 2008 - 11:08 PM.

[hfcg]

What you are asking for is not legal, and is in violation of Geeks To Go's terms of use that you agreed to.
I do not help people pirate software.
I do not care what articles you read that tell you how to do this, it is still illegal.
I do not know where the person who wrote the article recieved his information, but it is not correct, again call Microsoft and ask them!

Edited by hfcg, 08 September 2008 - 08:06 AM.

[gumby701]

From Microsoft, of course! Why won't you listen to reason?! I have evidence backing up my claims (articles, actual exceprts from the EULA), you do not.

http://download.micr...fa5040d2306.pdf

There. The actual PDF FROM MICROSOFT. Please scroll down to number 17. Now are you going to tell me that Microsoft has bad info too? If that doesn't comfort you, I'll record your [bleep] comversation. Gotta find a mic though.

Edited by gumby701, 08 September 2008 - 08:24 AM.

[hfcg]

Let me clarify,
If you bought the DVD (which you would then have a license key on the box) you may transfer it.
In your case, a pre installed (came with the computer) version is not transferable.
If you bought the DVD, use the license key on the box, otherwise you may not transfer the license key.
I will not help you to crack the license key.