Hi all a friend of mine has got a problem installing vista on a new hard drive with an OEM version of windows. The story is his old hdd died and cannot be accessed. we got a new hdd and tried to install vista with a installation disc i got when my pc came back from repair. It loads up fine but when it comes to entering the product key its comes up with this message "Setup
cannot validate your product key. Please review your product key and ensure
that it has been entered correctly."

I understand that usualy you would need some sort of recovery disc to do this. since the recovery was on partition and the drive cant be accesed, what to do now?!?

The system is an Acer Aspire m3201

Thanks

It should give you an opinion to Use the automated phone system to activate. If you need more help look at the How to contact a Microsoft Product Activation Center Article

i shall have a look. there is no option. the screen looks like in the link. It at the very first screen after clicking install windows.

http://www.maximumpcguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/vista_upgrade_install4.png

After Installation

If you are having that problem, try entering your product key after installation.

http://directedge.us/node/24

Vista installations depend on the product key.
In otherwords a Vista Home Premium or a Home Basic etc, is decided not by the Installation CD but by the key.
As has been said the OEM key on the Acer will only be accepted in its first entry by an Acer installation disc.
There would either have been a Recovery partition and a reinstall disc as on some laptops OR sometimes just the recovery partition, you then make your own recovery DVD.

The other way to try is this.
http://directedge.us/node/24
If that does not work, then follow the advice already given. , although I suspect that Microsoft may well refer you to Acer, as they are responsible for the OEM software .
Your friend could of course buy the necessary CD from Acer.- do not know the cost but I seem to have about £20 UK, in my mind.

Ok thanks for your comments. i have got him logged on now, however windows still needs to be activated in 30 days. the key i entered still does not validate. what is the best way to get a new key?