Activation not allowed.

Hi In order to force Windows 10 on my old computer Microsoft will not allow me to activate Windows Vista on the original laptop that it came on years ago.


I need Vista or XP in order to install 2 old programs that will not install on Windows 10. Will Vista run after the one month they allow for activation?
Any work around or appeal? Is there some other forum I should be on?

Thank you.

Since support for Windows XP and Vista has been ended, I don't think you can activate online. You must call Microsoft and activate by phone. When trying to activate Windows you should see an "Activate by phone" option. I am now sure if this works in XP and Vista, but you can also start Phone Activation if you go at a command prompt and type:

slui 4

then hit Enter to execute.

At this point I have to remind you that upgrade to Windows 10 is only possible from Windows 7 or higher. If you have Windows XP you must upgrade to Windows Vista 32-bit then to Windows 7 32-bit and finally to Windows 10 32-bit. If you have Vista 64-bit instead, you must first upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit and then to Windows 10 64-bit. You cannot mix 32-bit with 64-bit, you have to do a clean installation to change architecture. This is also true for language. You can only upgrade to the same language, but you can later add another language in Windows 10 if required.

Since doing all these upgrades in an old PC can take too much time, you have to consider which applications you need at Windows 10. Could it be faster to backup your data and then clean install (format) Windows 10 and all your applications again? If you have more than 20GB free hard disk space you can also boot from Windows 10 DVD, start a new Windows 10 installation and wait until you see your hard disk and the available partitions. Select the larger partition (with Windows) and click on next WITHOUT formatting or deleting. This will warn you that all your data will be kept in C:\Windows.old Proceed After Windows 10 installation is complete you can find all your data in C:\Windows.old\users\username and simply copy-paste to the new folders. All you have to do is update your drivers and reinstall the applications.

spapakons said:

Since support for Windows XP and Vista has been ended, I don't think you can activate online. You must call Microsoft and activate by phone. When trying to activate Windows you should see an "Activate by phone" option. I am now sure if this works in XP and Vista, but you can also start Phone Activation if you go at a command prompt and type:

slui 4

then hit Enter to execute.

At this point I have to remind you that upgrade to Windows 10 is only possible from Windows 7 or higher. If you have Windows XP you must upgrade to Windows Vista 32-bit then to Windows 7 32-bit and finally to Windows 10 32-bit. If you have Vista 64-bit instead, you must first upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit and then to Windows 10 64-bit. You cannot mix 32-bit with 64-bit, you have to do a clean installation to change architecture. This is also true for language. You can only upgrade to the same language, but you can later add another language in Windows 10 if required.

Since doing all these upgrades in an old PC can take too much time, you have to consider which applications you need at Windows 10. Could it be faster to backup your data and then clean install (format) Windows 10 and all your applications again?

Hi there

For these old OS's use Virtual Machines and then enter the old activation code. If you still have the old install disks then use those codes -- for XP you can still download the SP3 updates.
Cheers
jimbo

Hi,
Plenty of cheap win-10 licenses on ebay even enterprise for 20.us and under
If you have an issue just report to ebay/ paypal and try another most say 100% legit support if you have activation issues.

gwatts said:

I need Vista or XP in order to install 2 old programs that will not install on Windows 10....

Are you sure that it's W10 that they are objecting to? If they are 16-bit installers or apps they cannot run on any 64-bit OS.

Have you tried installing them on 32-bit Windows 10? W10 can run software and their installers in XP compatibility mode and 32-bit W10 can run 16-bit apps.

Multiple posters, I appreciate very much your overwhelming response.

I confused the issue earlier. I realize this is a Windows 10 forum, but I thought I could get the best advice here.
I have an MP3 player, Creative’s Zen Nomad Xtra and as far as I can tell, it cannot
be installed on Windows 10. My main computer is Windows 10 but I also have unused Windows XP
and Windows Vista laptops with their DVDs.
I don’t need to install Windows 10 on anything, just to get a working copy of an earlier
Windows on another computer that will be used only to load the MP3 player. I don’t want to go online.

Microsoft gives you one month to activate, I think (not sure) after each fresh install. If this is correct
and if I can get XP or Vista to work I’d be willing to install it every month.
It was the Microsoft telephone bot that would not let me activate Windows Vista.

Could I employ virtualization (I know nothing and it's time to learn) in order to install Windows Vista or XP on my Windows 10 computer so that I can install the Creative Zen player on that? Would that have the same activation problems?
Is there a way to appeal to a live person?
Thank you.