Code 0xC004C003 product key in use?

cattie

Hopefully somebody can advise as Microsoft have been pretty useless in my opinion.

I've a lad from overseas staying with me at the moment. His English isn't perfect so he's asked me to try to sort it out with all the phone calls etc.

He has a Toshiba laptop running Vista home premium. A few weeks back he took it to a computer shop as he had a problem & thought he may have a virus & I understand they reformatted the drive.

All was well untill yesterday when he got the screen message that Windows needed to be activated but when we tried to do this it wouldn't accept the key that came with his edition of Windows. It says the product key is in use & gave a code of 0xC004C003. Down in the corner it says something along the lines of the copy of windows not being genuine, but he does have a legitimate key that came with the Windows installed when he bought the computer.

I seem to have spent hours on the phone to Microsoft yesterday & this morning,who gave me a new key to try but that didn't work either. I was then told by a very abrupt call centre worker (which again seems to be outsourced to India) that they are not technicians so I would need to either call Microsoft Technical help, which charges something like £50 or more when assisting with technical problems :eek: or that the computer owner needs to contact Toshiba.

As all of his computer documentation is back in Saudi, where he bought the computer shortly before coming to the UK, I'm not sure how helpful contacting Tobishba would be.

If anybody could give any advice I'd be really grateful, even if it is to say that the only way to resolve this is to contact Toshiba or heaven help him, Microsofts rip off technical help service.:eek::eek::eek:

el_gringo_3

The technical help service is only free if you have the 'retail' version of the OS (Vista). It sounds like his copy of Vista came with the laptop and therefore is likely to be OEM software, which computer builders/manufacturers can buy cheaply and then sell pre-installed on the machine. The catch is that with these versions the technical help is then provided by the Manufacturer (Toshiba) rather than Microsoft.

Also whats the place he bought it from like? Remember in some countries whilst the law is written to protect copyrights etc, in practice the amount of money put into policing these laws is minimal. As such Microsoft reckon in some countries over 99% of copies of Windows are actually illegal! I've heard of people buying pirate copies from reputable companies in Hong Kong, for example, and only realising several years later when MS launched the 'WGA' tool. Was it bought on a trip to the US or down some dodgy little back alley in Riyadh?

cattie

Thanks el_gringo. He definitely bought his laptop from a bona-fida retailer in Saudi.

I've been trying to find support via Toshiba's website but it's unbelievably useless. No phone no's or email addresses available & says that support page for Uk is unavailable.

I've spent nearly all day trying to get this sorted for him & getting nowhere.

Strider590

The people who reformatted it didn't have a clue what they're doing, they should have extracted the CD key from the system registry before they reinstalled.

They have installed a non-genuine windows copy and should be put out of business for being such a bunch of cowboys, im sure any honest PC tech will tell you exactly the same!!!!
They probably didn't need to reinstall windows either!! unless it's a boot sector virus, most can be fixed...

Report the company to Microsoft and send trading standards after them!!
If they've done it a lot, they'll be in very very serious trouble.

cattie

Well said Strider, I've only just got off the phone to Toshiba support, having managed to finally find a phone number for them & the guy I spoke to said pretty much the same thing.

Toshiba has said he needs to see if he can get the shop to provide him with a legitimate key for the Vista they have installed & if not then his only option it to purchase a restore disc from Toshiba's website for £30.

The lad who owns the computer is now on his way over to the computer place in question & it's way over the other side of London. He originally chose to take the laptop to a shop where they spoke Arabic as he didn't feel confident trying to explain in English when he started having the problem with it. At least he should have no trouble arguing & swearing at them if need be in Arabic.

mr_fishbulb

Does the laptop not have a Microsoft sticker on it with the code?

Strider590

The sticker is sometimes bundled in with the operating instructions, which tend to get thrown away.

There's no excuse for selling what is effectively an illegal copy of windows. Too many places like that are pulling this trick and giving genuine businesses a bad name.

cattie

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

Does the laptop not have a Microsoft sticker on it with the code?

Yes it does, but when it's typed in it comes up with the message product key in use & as explained in Strider's post, the computer shop have obviously reformatted the drive with another copy of Vista, probably an illegal copy, overwriting the original legal copy, so Microsoft validation key/code is no longer valid for the software.

S3quence

Hi sorry I wouldnt be so sure that this is a dodgy copy before you flame the store in question without them at least trying to explain / resolve.

In my experiance with vista they all use the same installaiton CD with the CD key determining the version to install what is the exact error?

I would find it strange that it is a dodgy copy of windows have you tried following the steps on the following Microsoft Article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931276

I know whenever I reformat my laptop and install from scratch using my windows vista CD I have always had to call the Microsoft telephone number (all automated) to get a new activation code

isofa

cattie wrote: »

Yes it does, but when it's typed in it comes up with the message product key in use & as explained in Strider's post, the computer shop have obviously reformatted the drive with another copy of Vista, probably an illegal copy, overwriting the original legal copy, so Microsoft validation key/code is no longer valid for the software.

I suspect they've installed a different version, maybe a retail not OEM, or vice versa, or just some different patched version which won't work with the code with the laptop. However I did think this was phased out with Vista, but perhaps not.

I'd contact Toshiba and request a media CD for the version of windows installed on the laptop (or a recovery CD), this will then work correctly with your product key, but obviously you'll need to wipe and reinstall.

The people who wiped and reinstalled using different media have caused you a lot of bother! However they may not have done anything illegal...

S3quence

When you go to activate can you dsee if the version installed matches that of the serial number on the laptop

For example in this screen...http://www.zolved.com/UserFiles/Image/Windows%20Vista/change-productkey.jpg (Ignore the red boxes)