Stuck on windows vista?

Question

I downloaded a torrent for windows vista only to try windows vista for like a few weeks, I've had it for about a month now on my computer and now it's asking for a valid activation key so it locks up my computer and won't let me access it. I can't find my recovery discs atm so i'm pretty much stuck on a locked vista computer now, I really need help as soon as possible and don't post stupid answers like "you shouldn't have installed vista in the first place" or any stupid answer or I will report it as abuse of getting points, I really need help which is why i came here so please help me with this >.< it did help me decide that windows vista is not any better than media center edition 2005 but worse so i'm not going to buy it or use it anymore. Thankyou

Answer 1

Boot up using your Windows recovery cd to restore your OS to its original version. Good luck!

Answer 2

Hi, I am so sorry---I had the same thing happen. I know nothing about computers --luckily my brother is a computer engineer. I found out that Microsoft only now sells Vista and it is not compatible with so much of my software. I own my own business and was down for two days. I had nothing but problems with Vista and after being a long time Microsoft supporter I am considering MAC due to this. Anyway, my brother was finally able to find my old XP and uninstall vista, reinstall XP and go get patches to enable me to get my wireless on-line access. I know this isn't the help you were exactly looking for but my brother says to everyone beg, borrow, or plead to get an XP re-install on your machine because just when you think you have Vista working again it will just screw something else up. Good luck.

Answer 3

What you are experiencing is a security feature of Windows Products. After 30 days of use without the activation of the license for the operating system you will have limited to no functional abilites of the software.

At this point with no recovery disks, no other windows disks to help you don't have much choice but to call Microsoft and activate your copy or download a different copy of Windows and reinstall.

One thing I've been doing is using a basic Vista disk and using the Ultimate copy in a virtual machine then after the 30 day mark I wipe out the VM and do it all over again. It was the best way for me to train with it and to use it in a testing environment. Sorry there is not any other way around this.

Either call Microsoft and activate your copy or format the hard drive and reinstall a different copy of Windows.

Answer 4

Hopefully you did a clean install of the Vista and not an "upgrade". Assuming you did a clean install, simply use a boot disk like Hiren's to format your drive in FAT32 and then pop in the bootable Windows XP CD and let it install and you should be back in business. If you didn't do an upgrade from your existing OS (which is a bad way), and you have data you need to recover, then you'll need a bootable CD (Like BartPE) and an external hard drive to transfer your data to. Then you can proceed with the first procedure I mentioned.
Too bad you found out the hard way about the horrible Vista!

Answer 5

How To Find the Windows Vista Product Key Code
Source: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/findvistakey.htm

From Tim Fisher,
Your Guide to Focus on PC Support.

If you're preparing to reinstall Windows Vista you'll need to locate your copy of the Windows Vista product key. Normally this product key is on a sticker on your computer or located with the Windows Vista product manual.

If you've lost your product key, it's located in the registry but is encrypted and not readable, making finding it difficult. The key was not encrypted in previous versions of Windows like Windows 98.

Follow the steps below to locate your Windows Vista product key code.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Less than 15 minutes
Here's How:
1. Manually locating the Windows Vista product key from the registry is nearly impossible due to the fact that it's encrypted. The techniques used to locate the product key for operating systems like Windows 95 and Windows 98 only locate the product ID number, not the actually product key used for installation. Luckily, a number of free programs exist to help find product keys.
2. Choose a free product key finder program that supports Windows Vista.
3. Download and run the key finder program. Follow any instructions provided by the software.
4. The numbers and letters displayed by the program represent the Windows Vista product key. The product key should be formatted like xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx - five sets of five letters and numbers.
5. Write this key code down exactly as the program displays it to you for use when reinstalling Windows Vista.
Note: If even one character is written down incorrectly, the installation of Windows Vista that you attempt with this product key will fail. Be sure to transcribe the key exactly.
*******************
Free Keyfinders for Vista:
http://www.download.com/Keyfinder-Thing/3000-2094_4-10561260.html

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Answer 6

When you say "locked up" do you mean you can't get on anything? If you can still get onto your start menu, even for a small period of time go to accessories > system tools, and find system restore, then restore your pc to a time before you had vista installed. You can also try and do this in safe mode, by pressing F8 (i think) a couple of times when the pc first boots

Answer 7

unfortunatly being you went that route for trying vista you will have to format your hard drive so you will have to either contact your computers vender for a new restore disk or get an actual install disk. i had the same problem when i tried a beta copy of vista.

and on a personal note i have used used vista since it was in beta, bought ultimate 32bit when it became available and haven't been happier far more capable and stable than xp home. but my comp is a custom built rig not some mass manufactured hack job. so my specs are more than capable of vista

Answer 8

You will probably have to reload your computer, if you don't know how to do that then your local computer repair shop can do it for probably around $80.