Dell Vista upgrade won't Activate says key is already in use after re-install

Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade to
Vista Home Premimum

Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free Vista
upgrade from Dell?

The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0 that
I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I could
install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot between
the two (I have a third drive for data.

I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
themselves were left as non-RAID drives.

The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE (came
with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem. using
the Dell Vista upgrade.

Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed the
system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.

I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict with
the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.

Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array anymore
anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to auto-detect and
just used the drives as simple SATA drives.

I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a clean
install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP MCE on the
second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista upgrade.

Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and Vista.

I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a momentary
popup appear, something about not being able to activate windows (running
Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to it.

Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.

It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'

????

It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question I
waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no, there
weren't 8's next to B's, etc...

Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.

The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed the
first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that I've
re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second system???

Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece. The
only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they don't.

I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps Microsoft
would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to install on
another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.

Two questions then.....

A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them? Normally I
would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the OEM.

B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same system
(with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same activation issue
evry time?

A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes
about 5 minutes.

B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.

--
Jupiter Jones
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org


"HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
news:Z-...
>
> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free
> upgrade to Vista Home Premimum
>
> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>
> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID
> 0 that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0
> so I could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could
> dual-boot between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>
> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The
> drives themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>
> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE
> (came with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista
> Home Prem. using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>
> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I
> noticed the system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>
> I did some research and discovered that it's a known
> problem/conflict with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another
> story.
>
> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array
> anymore anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to
> auto-detect and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>
> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing
> a clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install
> of XP MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the
> Dell Vista upgrade.
>
> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
> Vista.
>
> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to
> it.
>
> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>
> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>
> ????
>
> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out
> my magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key
> code clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No
> question I waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly
> printed and no, there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>
> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>
> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista
> installed the first time it may have activated itself automatically
> and now that I've re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio
> install it on a second system???
>
> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece.
> The only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now
> they don't.
>
> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying
> to install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>
> Two questions then.....
>
> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them?
> Normally I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is
> provided by the OEM.
>
> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
> activation issue evry time?

Raid didn't cause this. In fact, Vista Business wouldn't install on mine
properly unless it was configured as Raid (even though I only have one
drive).

I saw this problem on my first install. I installed, didn't activate and
then installed on top of itself (Vista twice), to do a clean install. The
second time it took the key.

You didn't need to install MCE. Just format the drive, install Vista and
when it asks for your product key, NEXT past it. Answer properly the
version you bought and get all the way to a working system.

Then, from WITHIN Vista, run the install again -- the whole thing. ONLY
then enter the product key and it should take it.

Tom
"Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes about
> 5 minutes.
>
> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
> news:Z-...
>>
>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade to
>> Vista Home Premimum
>>
>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>
>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>
>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>
>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE (came
>> with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem.
>> using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>
>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed the
>> system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>
>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>
>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array anymore
>> anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to auto-detect
>> and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>
>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>> upgrade.
>>
>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>> Vista.
>>
>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to it.
>>
>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>
>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>
>> ????
>>
>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question I
>> waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>
>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>
>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed the
>> first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that I've
>> re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>> system???
>>
>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece. The
>> only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>> don't.
>>
>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>
>> Two questions then.....
>>
>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them? Normally
>> I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the
>> OEM.
>>
>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>> activation issue evry time?
>

I didn't think RAID itself had anything to do with the activation problem. I
was just pointing out that I had installed Vista once, (don't know if it
activated itself or not), then I ended up re-installing it a second time on
the same hardware and this time it won't activate becuase it thinks the key
is already in use.

I was also aware of the trick of installing Vista itself clean, then
installing it a second time etc, but I figured what the heck, I'll just go
ahead and install it the reccomended way according to the instructions.
Either way you end up installing an OS twice.

I may give that method a try, but I'm not sure it's worth going thru the
whole installation process yet again considering some of the quirks I've
seen so far with Vista. Then again, thats part of the reason for installing
Vista to begin with. To learn it's quirks with various applications, etc as
a learning experience.

I've lost count how many times I've re-installed XP over the years even with
changing a component or two inbetween installations, and I've never had
problems with activation. Now Vista comes along and I don't change anything
and the first time it gets re-installed I have this activation issue.

Maybe I'll just expiriment with Vista the way it is for a while (i've still
got 20 odd days to activate) before I decide if This is the hardware
cionfiguration I'll be staying with for some time.

Maybe I'll try your suggestion Tom, on how to install Vista without
upgrading just to see haow it works and see it it has any impact on my
activation problem. At this point it can't hurt now, can it?

Thanks for the suggestions.

"Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
news:460ea6db$0$13313$...
> Raid didn't cause this. In fact, Vista Business wouldn't install on mine
> properly unless it was configured as Raid (even though I only have one
> drive).
>
> I saw this problem on my first install. I installed, didn't activate and
> then installed on top of itself (Vista twice), to do a clean install. The
> second time it took the key.
>
> You didn't need to install MCE. Just format the drive, install Vista and
> when it asks for your product key, NEXT past it. Answer properly the
> version you bought and get all the way to a working system.
>
> Then, from WITHIN Vista, run the install again -- the whole thing. ONLY
> then enter the product key and it should take it.
>
> Tom
> "Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
> news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
>> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
>> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes about
>> 5 minutes.
>>
>> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
>> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>>
>> --
>> Jupiter Jones
>> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>
>>
>> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
>> news:Z-...
>>>
>>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade to
>>> Vista Home Premimum
>>>
>>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>>
>>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>>
>>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>>
>>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE (came
>>> with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem.
>>> using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>>
>>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed
>>> the system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>>
>>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>>
>>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array
>>> anymore anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to
>>> auto-detect and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>>
>>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>>> upgrade.
>>>
>>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>>> Vista.
>>>
>>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to it.
>>>
>>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>>
>>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>>
>>> ????
>>>
>>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question
>>> I waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>>
>>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>>
>>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed
>>> the first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that
>>> I've re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>>> system???
>>>
>>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece. The
>>> only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>>> don't.
>>>
>>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>>
>>> Two questions then.....
>>>
>>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them? Normally
>>> I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the
>>> OEM.
>>>
>>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>>> activation issue evry time?
>>
>

Thanks for the suggestions Jupiter.

If I decide I'd like to continue expirimenting with Vista on this
particuular hardware configuration I'll try calling Microsoft.

If Vista is that sensitive abouit re-installing on the same hardware
configuration, that alone will make me think hard about moving to Vista. XP
was never this sensitive about re-installing it, and I expiriment from time
to time with different hardware or hardware combinations, and if Vista is
going to act like this, well..... bummer..

Considering the minor quirks I've run across so far, it's not ready for me
to use as my primary OS just yet, thus the dual-boot config. Perhaps if
Vista is going to be this picky, I may just wait and install it after a few
more months when more and better drivers have been released and more
solutions to some of the minor compatability issues has been figures out.

Then again I'd like to use Vista for the learning experience.

Decisions, decisions....

"Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes about
> 5 minutes.
>
> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
> news:Z-...
>>
>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade to
>> Vista Home Premimum
>>
>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>
>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>
>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>
>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE (came
>> with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem.
>> using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>
>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed the
>> system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>
>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>
>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array anymore
>> anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to auto-detect
>> and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>
>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>> upgrade.
>>
>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>> Vista.
>>
>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to it.
>>
>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>
>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>
>> ????
>>
>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question I
>> waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>
>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>
>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed the
>> first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that I've
>> re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>> system???
>>
>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece. The
>> only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>> don't.
>>
>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>
>> Two questions then.....
>>
>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them? Normally
>> I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the
>> OEM.
>>
>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>> activation issue evry time?
>

I don't think it was the second install that caused the problem. My very
first install with Vista got this message. I hadn't given it a product key
during the install, but tried to activate. It asked for the key at that
point and gave me that error. I reinstalled over itself, gave it the key
(the same key) at the install and then activated after my first clean boot
and it worked fine.

I think the message is wrong and really something else is happening.

Tom
"HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
news: ...
>I didn't think RAID itself had anything to do with the activation problem.
>I was just pointing out that I had installed Vista once, (don't know if it
>activated itself or not), then I ended up re-installing it a second time on
>the same hardware and this time it won't activate becuase it thinks the key
>is already in use.
>
> I was also aware of the trick of installing Vista itself clean, then
> installing it a second time etc, but I figured what the heck, I'll just go
> ahead and install it the reccomended way according to the instructions.
> Either way you end up installing an OS twice.
>
> I may give that method a try, but I'm not sure it's worth going thru the
> whole installation process yet again considering some of the quirks I've
> seen so far with Vista. Then again, thats part of the reason for
> installing Vista to begin with. To learn it's quirks with various
> applications, etc as a learning experience.
>
> I've lost count how many times I've re-installed XP over the years even
> with changing a component or two inbetween installations, and I've never
> had problems with activation. Now Vista comes along and I don't change
> anything and the first time it gets re-installed I have this activation
> issue.
>
> Maybe I'll just expiriment with Vista the way it is for a while (i've
> still got 20 odd days to activate) before I decide if This is the hardware
> cionfiguration I'll be staying with for some time.
>
> Maybe I'll try your suggestion Tom, on how to install Vista without
> upgrading just to see haow it works and see it it has any impact on my
> activation problem. At this point it can't hurt now, can it?
>
> Thanks for the suggestions.
>
> "Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
> news:460ea6db$0$13313$...
>> Raid didn't cause this. In fact, Vista Business wouldn't install on mine
>> properly unless it was configured as Raid (even though I only have one
>> drive).
>>
>> I saw this problem on my first install. I installed, didn't activate and
>> then installed on top of itself (Vista twice), to do a clean install.
>> The second time it took the key.
>>
>> You didn't need to install MCE. Just format the drive, install Vista and
>> when it asks for your product key, NEXT past it. Answer properly the
>> version you bought and get all the way to a working system.
>>
>> Then, from WITHIN Vista, run the install again -- the whole thing. ONLY
>> then enter the product key and it should take it.
>>
>> Tom
>> "Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
>> news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
>>> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
>>> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes
>>> about 5 minutes.
>>>
>>> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
>>> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jupiter Jones
>>> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>>
>>>
>>> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
>>> news:Z-...
>>>>
>>>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade
>>>> to Vista Home Premimum
>>>>
>>>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>>>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>>>
>>>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>>>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>>>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>>>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>>>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>>>
>>>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>>>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>>>
>>>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE
>>>> (came with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home
>>>> Prem. using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed
>>>> the system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>>>
>>>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>>>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>>>
>>>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array
>>>> anymore anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to
>>>> auto-detect and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>>>
>>>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>>>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>>>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>>>> upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>>>> Vista.
>>>>
>>>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>>>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>>>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to
>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>>>
>>>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>>>
>>>> ????
>>>>
>>>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>>>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>>>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question
>>>> I waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>>>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>>>
>>>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed
>>>> the first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that
>>>> I've re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>>>> system???
>>>>
>>>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece.
>>>> The only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>>>> don't.
>>>>
>>>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>>>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>>>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>>>
>>>> Two questions then.....
>>>>
>>>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>>>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them?
>>>> Normally I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is
>>>> provided by the OEM.
>>>>
>>>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>>>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>>>> activation issue evry time?
>>>
>>
>

Tom,

The procedure you've stated to install a Vista Upgrade is similar to (exactly
like?) the one given by Brian Livingston's & Fred Langa's Windows Secrets
Newsletter... Ben Myers

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:23:49 -0400, "Tom Scales" <> wrote:

>Raid didn't cause this. In fact, Vista Business wouldn't install on mine
>properly unless it was configured as Raid (even though I only have one
>drive).
>
>I saw this problem on my first install. I installed, didn't activate and
>then installed on top of itself (Vista twice), to do a clean install. The
>second time it took the key.
>
>You didn't need to install MCE. Just format the drive, install Vista and
>when it asks for your product key, NEXT past it. Answer properly the
>version you bought and get all the way to a working system.
>
>Then, from WITHIN Vista, run the install again -- the whole thing. ONLY
>then enter the product key and it should take it.
>
>Tom
>"Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
>news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
>> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
>> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes about
>> 5 minutes.
>>
>> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
>> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>>
>> --
>> Jupiter Jones
>> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>
>>
>> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
>> news:Z-...
>>>
>>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade to
>>> Vista Home Premimum
>>>
>>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>>
>>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>>
>>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>>
>>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE (came
>>> with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem.
>>> using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>>
>>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed the
>>> system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>>
>>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>>
>>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array anymore
>>> anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to auto-detect
>>> and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>>
>>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>>> upgrade.
>>>
>>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>>> Vista.
>>>
>>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to it.
>>>
>>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>>
>>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>>
>>> ????
>>>
>>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question I
>>> waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>>
>>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>>
>>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed the
>>> first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that I've
>>> re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>>> system???
>>>
>>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece. The
>>> only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>>> don't.
>>>
>>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>>
>>> Two questions then.....
>>>
>>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them? Normally
>>> I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the
>>> OEM.
>>>
>>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>>> activation issue evry time?
>>

OK, I didn't read it clearly -- just skimmed, but here are my steps.

1) Boot from the DVD
2) Delete the partition on the hard drive and create a new one
3) Install Vista -- when it asks for a product id, don't give it one.
4) It will ask what version you want to install. Pick the proper one, in my
case Business (although there was a BusinessN, wonder what that is).
5) Go through the whole process until Vista is running. Do not activate
6) With Vista running, put the DVD back in. Do a CLEAN install.
7) This time, give it the product id. It will be happy as it sees a
pre-existing OS, even though that is the same one you're installing.
8) Once you've booted, activate it.

Worked fine for me.

Tom
"Ben Myers" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Tom,
>
> The procedure you've stated to install a Vista Upgrade is similar to
> (exactly
> like?) the one given by Brian Livingston's & Fred Langa's Windows Secrets
> Newsletter... Ben Myers
>
> On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:23:49 -0400, "Tom Scales" <>
> wrote:
>
>>Raid didn't cause this. In fact, Vista Business wouldn't install on mine
>>properly unless it was configured as Raid (even though I only have one
>>drive).
>>
>>I saw this problem on my first install. I installed, didn't activate and
>>then installed on top of itself (Vista twice), to do a clean install. The
>>second time it took the key.
>>
>>You didn't need to install MCE. Just format the drive, install Vista and
>>when it asks for your product key, NEXT past it. Answer properly the
>>version you bought and get all the way to a working system.
>>
>>Then, from WITHIN Vista, run the install again -- the whole thing. ONLY
>>then enter the product key and it should take it.
>>
>>Tom
>>"Jupiter Jones" <> wrote in message
>>news:IrwPh.32656$__3.25432@edtnps90...
>>> A. Choose the option to activate by phone.
>>> Call Microsoft at the number listed for your region, normally takes
>>> about
>>> 5 minutes.
>>>
>>> B. Sometimes this happens with no apparent cause.
>>> I am not sure if your RAID changes can cause this.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jupiter Jones
>>> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>>
>>>
>>> "HDRDTD" <> wrote in message
>>> news:Z-...
>>>>
>>>> Dell XPS 410 bought in early December with XP MCE with a free upgrade
>>>> to
>>>> Vista Home Premimum
>>>>
>>>> Has anybody run into this yet when upgrading to Vista using the free
>>>> Vista upgrade from Dell?
>>>>
>>>> The only thing that I can think of that 'might' be the cause is that
>>>> originally when I got by upgrade, I had two 150gig Raptors in a RAID 0
>>>> that I had installed XP Pro on, but I decided to break the RAID 0 so I
>>>> could install XP Pro on one and Vista on the other so I could dual-boot
>>>> between the two (I have a third drive for data.
>>>>
>>>> I broke the RAID but left RAID enabled in the XPS 410 BIOS. The drives
>>>> themselves were left as non-RAID drives.
>>>>
>>>> The installation of XP Pro went just fine, then I installed XP MCE
>>>> (came
>>>> with the 410) on the second Raptor and upgraded it to Vista Home Prem.
>>>> using the Dell Vista upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Everything seemed to be fine, but as I started using Vista, I noticed
>>>> the
>>>> system would freeze for about 20sec every 5 min or so.
>>>>
>>>> I did some research and discovered that it's a known problem/conflict
>>>> with the Intel RAID, and Vista but that's another story.
>>>>
>>>> Because of this, I decided that since I wasn't using a RAID array
>>>> anymore
>>>> anyway, I'd just go back into the BIOS and set the RAID to auto-detect
>>>> and just used the drives as simple SATA drives.
>>>>
>>>> I Changed the BIOS, then went through the same process again, doing a
>>>> clean install of XP Pro on the first Raptor, did a clean install of XP
>>>> MCE on the second Raptor and upgraded that again using the Dell Vista
>>>> upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Everything went just fine and the system runs just fine under XP and
>>>> Vista.
>>>>
>>>> I did this about a week ago, and a couple of times since, I saw a
>>>> momentary popup appear, something about not being able to activate
>>>> windows (running Vista at the time) but didn't pay much attention to
>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>> Last night it popped up again and I clicked on it to see what's up.
>>>>
>>>> It now tells me, 'The product key you typed is already in use'
>>>>
>>>> ????
>>>>
>>>> It gives you the chance to enter a new key, so I carefully got out my
>>>> magnifying glass so my 54 year old eyes could see the damned key code
>>>> clearly, and retyped in the code on the Dell Vista package. No question
>>>> I
>>>> waxs entering the right characters, they were clearly printed and no,
>>>> there weren't 8's next to B's, etc...
>>>>
>>>> Same error comes up indicateing the key is already in use.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing I can think of is that back when I had Vista installed
>>>> the
>>>> first time it may have activated itself automatically and now that I've
>>>> re-installed Vista it thinks I'm trying tio install it on a second
>>>> system???
>>>>
>>>> Note: NONE of the hardware in the system has changed. Not one piece.
>>>> The
>>>> only difference is the HD's used to have RAID enabled, and now they
>>>> don't.
>>>>
>>>> I could understand that If I had changed a few components, perhaps
>>>> Microsoft would have decided that the changes indicated I was trying to
>>>> install on another system, but I haven't changed a darn thing.
>>>>
>>>> Two questions then.....
>>>>
>>>> A. Since this is a Dell OEM version of Vista, do I go to Dell for a
>>>> resolution, or because it's a Microsoft issue, do I go to them?
>>>> Normally
>>>> I would guess the since it'a an OEM product, support is provided by the
>>>> OEM.
>>>>
>>>> B. Does it make any sense that just re-installing Vista on the same
>>>> system (with NO hardware changes) is going to trigger this same
>>>> activation issue evry time?
>>>