Code 0xC004C003 product key in use?

S3quence

isofa wrote: »

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.
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Thanks isofa this is what I first thought but I know from experiance that I have reinstalled Vista on my girlfreinds laptop using my retail version CD with her OEM license which made me think that it doesnt matter on Vista.

Strider590

Can you please open system properties and check to see if all the hardware is OK, ie all drivers installed. If they are then im sure you can change the product key to a valid one (as with XP). If not then you might as well do a full reinstall because you'll have to go download all the drivers again anyway.

isofa wrote: »

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

They have, whether it's supplying an illegal copy of Vista or charging for a product/service that was not provided. They did not do the job they were asked to do, or the job they charged for, especially if it all has to be done again!

It would have been dead easy to get the original product key from the system registry if they'd know what they were doing! even if the system would not boot it's still possible to copy the files over and extract that information, there is no excuse.

hotcookie101

If you ring microsoft and explain the situation, they can block the key, and provide you with a new one (according to my OH) They may also go after the computer shop....

But it is an 0800 number (i think, back from when we had numerous issues with a HTPC and had to reinstall vista a million times :rolleyes:)

Lum

The really frustrating thing about this is that the reason your laptop used to work is most likely because toshiba would've supplied it not with the product key on the sticker but with a special OEM product key. How these work is they are burnt onto the Vista DVD along with some special digital certificates and in conjunction with some special code in your computer's BIOS (called a SLIC table) the special product key works.

This is why you need to use Toshiba's special restore DVD.

There are tools and instructions floating around on the internet to make your own OEM Vista DVDs and to inject the necessary product key and digital certificate into an existing Vista install in order to get it to activate, unfortunately the majority of people using these are using it for piracy purposes, for example you could use it to upgrade yourself to Vista Ultimate.

You can check if this situation applies to you by doing the following:

1) Download the free trial of Everest Ultimate Edition from http://www.lavalys.com

2) Start the program up, in the pane on the left choose Motherboard followed by ACPI

3) In the table on the top right look for an entry labelled SLIC: Software Licensing Description Table. If this entry exists then your laptop has a royalty key. If you click on it, it should give some indication that it is by Toshiba.

If this is the case then you are going to need a Toshiba specific DVD. That's going to be the only way to do it that isn't going to have you trawling piracy sites looking for the Toshiba version of the OEM activation toolkit.

S3quence

As an afterthought and as Strider590 has pointed out, just take it back the shop and demand they put right what you have paid them to do! or ask for a refund and take it elsewhere or use the cash towards an OEM verison of Vista Home Premium for about £70

el_gringo_3

I don't think he can 'legally' buy an OEM copy of vista in his situation, unless he were to buy a cheapo motherboard, of course.

S3quence

Also here is the link for ordering a toshiba recovery disk which os probably cheaper...Lums post eariler is starting to ring a bell about the toshiba OEM license (isnt it in a different format than normal)

https://backupmedia.toshiba.eu/landing.aspx

S3quence

el_gringo wrote: »

I don't think he can 'legally' buy an OEM copy of vista in his situation, unless he were to buy a cheapo motherboard, of course.

Ah yes...erm...i forgot...those £2 IDE cables can come in really handy! :rolleyes:

Lum

I've said as much as I can short of providing information and links that can be used for piracy.

This kind of thing really winds me up for two reasons

1) The OP has a legitimate license to use Vista yet the easiest option is to buy another license, or a ridiculously priced recovery CD. Genuine honest people are being forced into the warez scene in order to use software that they've paid for, and will have a better quality experience if they do this (ie. you can just activate your existing install rather than have to reinstall everything. The result will be identical)

2) It costs a few pennies to press that bloody CD and 38p to post it, it's pure profiteering from Toshiba.

It's worth noting that Microsoft licenses are all about the product key stickers and not about the CDs. If you can obtain a copy of that recovery DVD by other means, such as borrowing one from a friend, that will be entirely legitimate.

Unfortunately I've said all I can given the stance on discussing things like torrents on this forum.

S3quence

In all fairness I would be taking it back the shop and like to know the reasons why they felt the need to reinstall everything to get rid of the original problem. They clear have no clue what they are doing and have simply installed vista on there with the 30 day activation period and probably hoped they would never see the OP again.

Toshiba are conning by charging for the CD but the fact is they give the ability to do it yourself and the only reason that the OP is in the position is they havent burnt a recovery CD in the first place. Unless in fact the company who formatted it removed the recovery partition which again I would want them to sort it out!

I have only pointed out the links I have as the OP already has accepted the loss of whatever they paid this other company. I would do my best to get them to resolve it FOC or get my money back and find other means of getting it working. If that means using it for the recovery CD then I would write it off as that loss. (im assuming the company charged more than £30 for reinstalling windows?)