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Important: This information is for off-campus use only. If
you are faculty/staff and use Windows Vista Enterprise,
you
will activateit by using another
method. Contact your IT department or the Office of Information Technology
(OIT) Help Desk for assistance.
It is important to activate your Microsoft Windows Vista
Business Operating System (OS) after your first installation of the
software.
If you do not activate it within thirty (30) days, the Operating System
will fall into Reduced Functionality Mode (RFM). Once that happens, the
anti-piracy technology will cripple your OS believing it to be an illegal
copy of the software.
If you purchased a new computer with Vista already installed on it, you will not have to follow the steps below. Windows will prompt you for your
Activation Key (included with your system) during setup. If you would like
to verify that activation was successful, see Step 5 below.
If you purchased Vista Business from the OIT Help Desk or
Software Licensing, you will be
required to enter the MAK (Multiple Activation Key) provided by OIT to
activate your copy of Vista. If you have another version of Vista, you will
have an activation/product key on the Vista CDs provided by the
manufacturer. To activate:
- Click Start, then right-click Computer and select Properties.
On the bottom of the window, you will see the Activation
area.
- Click Change product key.
- Click Continue if a warning appears.
You will see a window similar to the image below:

- Enter your MAK/Product Key information
in the Product Key field and click strong>Next. This will
complete the activation process.
- Click Start
, then right-click Computer and select
Properties. On the bottom of the window you will see the Windows
activation area. It will state Windows is activated
when successful.

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