Sager 5796 BIOS upgrade and Vista activation

So, I decided to update the BIOS to the latest version (EC v11 and BIOS v16). Everything worked well, I restarted the system and... No, no problems with the performance or drivers - everything works fine, except... Yes, Vista activation! The stupid thing told me that I need to activate my (already activated) Vista 64bit. So, I pressed the "activate" button. Guess what? - It tells me now that I have the following 3 options (no kidding!):
BUY VISTA/ENTER A NEW LICENSE/CALL SAGER.
So I spent 30 minutes trying to find a MS activation phone number. Then I spent about an hour on the phone with 5 different idiots. Then I was told that I can: A) pay $54 for MS technical support B) call Sager (of course, it's after hours now and it's too late to call Sager.

In short, the BIOS update made Vista think that I changed my hardware and (for whatever reason) my pre-installed OEM Vista 64bit is refusing to get activated again online. I now need to wait for tomorrow to call Sager and (hopefully) resolve this issue with them... Very frustrating. Even more so, because I know it would take me 1 minute (!) to FIX this issue once and for all with well-known and widely available tools. But no - I decided to take a 'noble path'...

It looks like MS are RECRUITING you to become a pirate.... Unbelivible...

 

call Microsoft hotline for Windows Activation... and they will give you a new activation code if you explain the situation.

I do it a number a times after fixing people's systems.

 

I tried. I also did it before numerous times. But not THIS time. They are refusing to do anything because it's an OEM version. They are offering me to pay $54 or suggesting to call Sager.

 

Yeah this sometimes happens. When you update the BIOS it sometimes makes a big change to the Hardware ID which is tied down to the OEM licence key.

Easy way around this is using orevs ABR tool (Activation and backup restore) to save the activation so you dont ever have to deal with MS. It can be found in the HP clean install sticky.

 

Thanks, flipfire. Next time I'll definitely use ABR.

 

contact your vendor... they might be able to help.

 

Thanks guys, I just had to vent... OEM is the greatest evil that ever existed, in software world, anyway

 

PHP:

That's why I've chosen not to purchase OEM version for my M860ETU and just use my retail version of XP-

I've dealt with the vista activation insanity before-

Tips mentioned here are extremely helpful-

 

its simply due to the fact that the new bios you flashed does not contain the proper slic table to match the xrml cert thats loaded into vista. was the new bios a actual sager bios or was it from another web site like clevo directly etc....if so that will cause this issue. overall though they should activate it for you i do it all the time being on the repair end of things for my customers

 

RESOLUTION:
Today I clicked "Enter a different serial key" and re-entered the one from the sticker. And... It got activated. Weird! Oh well, I'm backing up my activation now. Just in case!