product key not working

[johnbdg]

i have vista home 32 version. it works for a year or two. last week it auto shut down. when i started it ask the product key. I typed it in not working and asked the Microsoft support, it is not working and he used his own product key it wasn't work. The representative transfer to a pay service and ask $160 to fix it. Is there any one know how to solve the problem? Thanks for your help.

 

[USAFRet]

1. Windows would not ask, on startup, for the key. It would tell that is it 'not genuine'.
2. A MS rep would not use his own key to re-activate.
3. MS would not charge $160 for reactivating a valid key

Methinks you have a virus and you talked to someone 'not Microsoft'.

Devirus your machine, and/or call actual Microsoft.

 

[COLGeek]

USAFRet, I think, is spot on. This sounds an awful lot like one of the many scams to trick users into paying for support that is really not needed.

Check Control Panel/System to see if Windows is activated or not. Also, a complete malware scan with a tool like Malwarebytes should remove this problem (if what we suspect it is is accurate).

Get Malwarebytes at www.malwarebytes.org. Install, update, and run a full scan (the free version is good). Delete all the app finds.