comradec
active member
Joined: 21/09/03
Posts: 1556
Loc: Stockton-on-Tees, UK
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I encountered a problem while re-partitioning my computer the other day, shortly after
installing Windows 7, and now I'm unable to reinstall *any* version of Windows on any of
the three hard drives in my computer.
When I try to install from scratch -
which I'm only doing because it's proved impossible to reinstall over the top of existing
installations - using the Windows installation disks, I'm informed that "Your product key
cannot be validated. Review your product key and make sure that you have entered it
correctly."
That specific wording is from the Vista installation routine, but a
similar formulation comes up in all three versions I have - XP, Vista and 7.
I
know that the product keys are in fact correct - I've used them before on the same
computer - and all of these versions of Windows are authentic, the original disks and
purchased through officially approved channels.
Looking up this issue on the
web, none of the scenarios mentioned appear to apply. One suggested for Vista is that the
installation disk is pre-service pack 1 and the product key was issued after that, but
that can't be the cause here as the same thing is happening in XP and 7 too.
Looking in the BIOS, everything appears to be normal. And looking at the disks using a
boot CD for the two partioning programs I have - TeraByte BootIt NG and Acronis Disk
Director 10 - nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. All three internal disks are
functioning and their booting order in the BIOS is the same as I had them set up
originally.
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Ableton Live 8; NI Kontakt 3; Sony Sound Forge 9; WinXP; Intel E6600 @ 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM; Edirol M-10DX, UA-25; Akai APC40, MPK25; Roland Fantom-G6; Waldorf Blofeld; Alesis Micron, Fusion
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UltimateOutsider
Joined: 30/10/09
Posts: 17
Loc: Portland, OR
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Windows product keys tend to be tied to a specific SKU; a product key for Vista Ultimate
will not be valid for Vista Home Premium, for example. Additionally, I THINK that some OEM
keys are only valid for the brand (and perhaps product line) of computer that the given
Windows edition shipped with.
If the error is occuring at the part during
actual Windows setup when they ask for the key, I think that the above scenarios apply.
You can, of course, skip the product key entry screen during setup and then you have a
grace period of a few weeks after Windows setup completes to enter an actual product
key.
If product key validation is failing (once the OS is completely installed
and you're actually trying to activate), then it could be a problem with your specific key
being blacklisted or exhausted.
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Gateway NX860XL, 32-bit Win 7, Core Duo 2.00 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 7200 RPM HD, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 w/256MB VRAM |MOTU UltraLite MK3 | MOTU micro lite | Cubase 5.00
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