Windows fails to accept product keys - XP, Vista and 7(!)

I encountered a problem while re-partitioning my computer the other day, shortly after installing Windows 7, and now I'm unable to reinstall *any* version of Windows on any of the three hard drives in my computer.

When I try to install from scratch - which I'm only doing because it's proved impossible to reinstall over the top of existing installations - using the Windows installation disks, I'm informed that "Your product key cannot be validated. Review your product key and make sure that you have entered it correctly."

That specific wording is from the Vista installation routine, but a similar formulation comes up in all three versions I have - XP, Vista and 7.

I know that the product keys are in fact correct - I've used them before on the same computer - and all of these versions of Windows are authentic, the original disks and purchased through officially approved channels.

Looking up this issue on the web, none of the scenarios mentioned appear to apply. One suggested for Vista is that the installation disk is pre-service pack 1 and the product key was issued after that, but that can't be the cause here as the same thing is happening in XP and 7 too.

Looking in the BIOS, everything appears to be normal. And looking at the disks using a boot CD for the two partioning programs I have - TeraByte BootIt NG and Acronis Disk Director 10 - nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. All three internal disks are functioning and their booting order in the BIOS is the same as I had them set up originally.

 

found some info in Google with: xp vista dual boot (no clue about all 3; did a search for all 3 but only found links for dual, not triple, boots)

or contact your pc vendor? i've only ever done 98 & XP; had to install 98 first and only used the on-board option for partioning for XP after i installed 98. used another partition program to partition further, after everything was installed.

others will have much better info, but will want your system specs (brand, age, etc.) mine is a 6 year old Dell Dimension 4700 that came with XP Home & i'm thinking it couldn't (maybe it could, but Vista issues sound too much like ME issues and i don't care to try) handle Vista; i definitely KNOW it wouldn't be able to handle 7 without upgrading processor and mobo/audio/sound cards...basically gutting and installing "modern" hardware.

actually, my next pc is going to be a Mac since i can also run XP on the Mac. just found that out and looking forward to it.

rhetorical question: why would you want THOSE 3? i could understand 98, XP & 7, just not the Vista (or ME, for that matter).

 

Sorry for missing out my system spec. I'd intended to post that too.

I'm using a desktop computer with the following spec: Intel Core2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM; Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2; ATI Radeon X1050 graphics; three Seagate Baracuda hard drives (80GB, 250GB and 1,500GB); Microsoft Windows 7, Vista and XP.

As for why I'd want to run all three operating systems, well, I intend to 'decommission' Vista eventually, but thought it best to experiment with W7 before doing that. The experiment isn't working out, though! Not at the moment anyway. To be fair, that's unlikely to be W7's fault, however.

And I need XP for my home studio setup, which is running a number of audio and sequencing applications. These are officially compatible with Vista but my experience has been that Vista is pretty useless for serious audio work. When I'm satisfied that W7 is suitable for these applications - and some of the developers still haven't updated their products to work with W7 - I shall no doubt decommission XP too.

 

i haven't tried Vista, and everything i've read has convinced me not to (someone else, not me, equated Vista to ME as far as...pretty much, everything.)

someone else will have better info than i could give you.

 

In the end I have managed to resolve this issue but I'm still not sure what exactly it was that caused the problem.

The product keys I'd been entering were correct but I got numerous further rejections of keys from both XP and Vista after I posted my query here before I got one to take.

The installation operation finally worked only after I completely wiped all content from the first hard drive (HD0) and then repartitioned and formatted it from scratch.

I had already deleted the partitions on this drive without it making any difference so I can only imagine that something problematic was erased this time round that had failed to be erased the first few times I tried - presumably related to the booting side of things.

I'm using BootIT NG for its booting functions. I don't use the boot manager in Acronis Disk Director as I've found it to be somewhat temperamental.

But thanks for the replies and advice.