T61 asking for vista activation?

It came with Vista and I kept on getting the blue sreen. So I went to XP. After that I upgraded it back to Vista with the disc that came with it. Now when I leave it on for a while the windows activation window will pop up asking me to activate. When I enter product key # on the back of my laptop it won't work.

I'm still able to use Vista and all, but I'm afraid that if I don't activate it, one day I won't be able to use it anymore. Because I went to XP and upgraded back to Vista using the disc, does that mean that I have to purchase the product key?

 

you need to restore the Vista installation from the recovery partition. Use the blue ThinkVantage button to do this.

 

Can you more thoroughly explain this?

 

You need to get the cd key from your original install of vista (OEM install) by running this and make sure you write it down.

For some reason the cd key that is printed under your notebook isn't the key they use to activate vista so you have to use software to get it.

You might be able to get away with calling MS and telling them to activate the key under the notebook.

 

did you use the vista anytime upgrade dvd to reinstall vista?

 

Just call the activation phone number like Vista tells you to, and a CSR will give you an activation code. It takes less than 5 minutes.

 

It came with Vista. Then I went to XP and then upgraded to Vista anytime and then I upgraded it to Vista Ultimate my friend lend me.

Tailic I downloaded that and it gave me the cd key that is printed on my laptop and that doesn't work.

It asked me for activation when I upgraded it with the vista anytime. So my friend lend me his Vista Ultimate, hoping that it won't ask me for activation, I upgraded to Ultimate. But it still does.

So my final shot at this is to call?

 

Just call them, fast and easy way to do it. I did twice, worked well

 

Call them or use the activation method in the "clean install guide" in my sig. It looks more complicated than it really is- I just had to make sure the instructions were clear and thorough.

 

Wait, you upgraded to Ultimate, meaning it was not the same version of Vista that was originally installed on your laptop? If so, the key will not work anyway. You must install the correct version of Vista that matches the OEM key assigned to your laptop (or you will not be able to activate it).

 

from the sounds of it he did.

Since you upgraded to Ultimate, you are going to have to purchase a new licence, unless you revert it back to the original copy of vista you purchased. Unless, you really did purchase ultimate originally, then I'm sure MS will take care of you.