Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Windows Vista: Changing the Product Key

The Windows Vista installation disk contains all the various editions of Vista that are available (i.e.: Home Basic and Premium, Business, Ultimate, etc.). The product key you entered during the installation process determines which product gets installed during the installation process.

If you decide later to upgrade your version of Vista (i.e. from Home Basic to Home Premium), you will need to change your product key. Or, if you're having a problem with the product key you enter and you have to change it. All you need to do is follow the instructions below:
  • Open the Control Panel folder under the Start menu.
  • Double-click the System applet.
  • Click the 'Change Product Key' link in the 'Windows activation' section.
  • Then follow the instructions in the Windows Activation dialog that is displayed.

2 comments:

Mswells said...

I currently have OEM Vista Home premium (VHP) legally installed pn my current PC.

I also OWN a key for Vista Ultimate.

So. According to your blog, if I want to have Vista Ultimate installed on the current PC with VHP, all I need to do is to change the product key and then I have Vista Ultimate?

I am jsut asking because I would rather not loose my OEM provided factory re-install option. Yes, I know that would put me back to VHP.

ubergeek316 said...

I would hate answer this question, wrong so I am going to refer you to http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/. This is the best place to get that question answered. They do a great job at this site.