How to activate Windows Vista

What you will need

You must be logged on to Windows as an administrator to activate Windows Vista. 

To activate your copy of Windows Vista, you may need your valid product key. You can locate the product key on the Windows Vista CD sleeve or on the Windows Vista CD case.

Note If Windows Vista was preinstalled by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the product key appears on a sticker on the case of the computer.

Activating Windows Vista

To activate Windows Vista online, you must have an Internet connection. To activate Windows Vista by telephone, you must use the automated telephone system.
 

Video: How to activate Windows on your computer

To activate Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Click System properties on the toolbar, and then click Click here to activate Windows now in the Windows activation area.
   
   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
3. Select the Windows Vista activation method that you want, and then follow the instructions.

Note If you select the automatic activation method when you first set up your computer, the automatic activation process tries to activate your copy of Windows Vista three days after you first log on.

Verifying that Windows Vista is activated

To verify that your copy of Windows Vista is activated, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Click System properties on the toolbar, and view the Windows Vista activation status in the Windows activation area at the bottom of the System properties box.

Note It may take several seconds for Windows Vista to retrieve your computer activation status.

If you cannot activate Windows Vista over the Internet

If you are re-installing Windows or reactivating Windows, the activation process may not be completed successfully when you try to activate Windows Vista over the Internet by using the Windows Activation Wizard. If this occurs, you should activate Windows over the telephone.


To activate Windows Vista over the telephone, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Click System properties on the toolbar, and then click Click here to activate Windows now in the Windows activation area.
   
   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
3. The Windows Activation Wizard starts.
4. Click Use the automated telephone system in the Windows Activation Wizard.

If Windows Vista requests activation unexpectedly

On rare occasions, you may be prompted to activate Windows Vista on a computer that did not previously require Windows Vista activation or was already activated successfully. For example, this may occur on a computer where Windows Vista was preinstalled by an OEM or Volume Licensing installation and major hardware changes have occurred, such as upgrading the hard disk and memory at the same time.

If you are prompted to reactivate Windows Vista, you can do so by using the Windows Activation Wizard:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Click System properties on the toolbar, and then click Click here to activate Windows now in the Windows activation area.
   
   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
3. Select the Windows Vista activation method that you want, and then follow the instructions.

To prevent this problem in the future, you should obtain the latest service pack for your installed version of Windows Vista, either through automatic updates or direct download.

To update Windows Vista and prevent this Activation problem from reoccurring:

1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update.
2. Click Check for updates.
3. As soon as Windows Vista has found the updates, click the Install updates button.