07/12/13 From 0calabarry49
I bought a cyberpower PC with win 7. I installed my vista HD as a second HD, THE Vista drive worked for about a week, then it asked me for the proper windows registration number or it wont work. I bought both computers with windows. I paid for both vista & WIN7. What can I do to GET Vista to work and boot up. I don;t no how to find my windows registry numbers. all help is welcome.There is a tool called Jellybean that can read the windows key and tell you what it is for that install. Great tool to have when KEYS rub off of laptops or become damaged and you are guessing a character to be 0 thru 9 or A thru Z or the key is lost because it never got stuck onto the computer case and disc and certificate of authenticity with key are missing. This is not a key generator, it requires windows to still FUNCTION to be able to install and run it and retrieve the info. If it no longer allows you to log into Vista because it requires a key to function, this tool wont help you and you will have to buy a new vista license or locate the one that is missing. Vista is pretty cheap on ebay to buy authentic disc and key.


http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/Some more detail needed.
What brand of PC? HP? Gateway?
Some OEM versions of Windows can be tied to the hard drive. So moving or replacing the hard drive can cause the activation to reset.

This problem is widely know. It really ANNOYS users when MS asks for activation after a hard drive change. The product should be tied to the CPU, not the hard drive.
Here is one example from HP.
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-Systems-e-g-Windows-8-Software-Recovery/activating-windows-7-after-hard-drive-replacement/td-p/227756
Call the MS activation Hotline...it's Toll Free.Quote from: Geek-9pm on July 12, 2013, 08:53:44 PM

The product should be tied to the CPU, not the hard drive.