Vista OEM reactivation because of hardware change

[lumbus]

Ok, I've just a had it a for like a week, and I'm already started to think that the OEM Vista license was a mistake.... Anyway...

Last night I had a heatsink problem and reseated the CPU and heatsink (BIOS said I had a new CPU for some reason, even though it was the same one). I also added some hard drives. After that Vista said that I needed to reactivate it because of hardware changes. I clicked the reactivate buttons, but Vista said it can't be reactivated because the license is already in use! Is it saying I have to buy a new one, or is there a way for me to release the license to it unused, so that I can activate again? I thought I was supposed to be able to reactivate three times because of hardware changes. Note: all that I have ACTUALLY changed is putting in more hard drives. Also, I sure hope that hot swapping hard drives doesn't constitute hardware changes....

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[corkyg]

Have you tried a repair install?

I change Vista hard drives weekly - never a problem with that. Did you change any of your CPU settings in BIOS?

You may have to call Microsoft and they will resolve the problem for you. They are pretty good about that.

 

[bwatson283]

just call MS and tell them what happened and they should be able to let it pass.

 

[Noema]

Just call MS. It should take 5 minutes and you'll be good to go.

 

[lumbus]

Yep, thanks, guys! I called the activation phone number and a lady gave me the activation code to put in.