Error Messaage: Windows Not Genuine

[Tom]

Two years ago, I bought a Sony PC at an estate sale that had windows XP
professonal installed.. Recently the "Windows not genuine" message started
showing up. I am sure the person I bought it from installed a pirated copy
of the XP Professional software on the PC. The PC has a sticker showing
that it came with the XP home edition. Is there any way to get back to the
home edition (which has been paid for) without buying a retail copy?

My daughter is using the PC and the features of XP profesional are not
needed; XP home would be just fine.

The PC is working fine; however, along with the not genuine message is a
statementr that she is not elgible for updates from Microsoft

No, I did not get any dsks with the PC so I cannot go back to store
settings.

There is a button that says get genuine. Does anyone know what happens if
you start down that path?

Any Ideas would be appreciated.

Tom D.

 

[Guest]

W/O being the orig. purchaser of the pc,you'd have little or no chance of
getting the xp home cd from the mfg of the pc.As thier is no upgrade from
home to pro,the hd was probably formatted before pro was added.Buying a
xp upgrade wont work as no prior windows OS is present unless you have one
around (retail copy),so a full xp retail cd is needed,or purchase a vista
OS cd,as
xp is on the way out...

 

[Phil Weldon]

'Tom' wrote:
| Two years ago, I bought a Sony PC at an estate sale that had windows XP
| professonal installed.. Recently the "Windows not genuine" message
started
| showing up. I am sure the person I bought it from installed a pirated
copy
| of the XP Professional software on the PC. The PC has a sticker showing
| that it came with the XP home edition. Is there any way to get back to
the
| home edition (which has been paid for) without buying a retail copy?
|
| My daughter is using the PC and the features of XP profesional are not
| needed; XP home would be just fine.
|
| The PC is working fine; however, along with the not genuine message is a
| statementr that she is not elgible for updates from Microsoft
|
| No, I did not get any dsks with the PC so I cannot go back to store
| settings.
|
| There is a button that says get genuine. Does anyone know what happens if
| you start down that path?
|
| Any Ideas would be appreciated.
_____

'Andrew E.' posts hardly meet even the accuracy standards of a stopped
clock. (This sort of warning comment from one newsgroup participant or
another usually is posted every time an 'Andrew E.' post appears; sort of a
'peer review' safety net.)

If the computer has a sticker of authenticity for Windows XP Home on it,
then you should be able to get Windows XP Home recovery disks from the
computer manufacturer. There may be a charge, depending on the
manufacturer. The disks will likely be OEM and tied to the manufacturers
motherboard BIOS and will not work for other computers models. HO, for
example, charges $19.95 for a set of recovery disks.

If you follow the button route, at some point you can call Microsoft for
directions for getting legal. Or you could just call Microsoft without the
button (which is what I'd recommend.) And you will likely be asked about
the Windows XP Home sticker, and directed to the manufacturer. Since the
original copy of Windows XP home is tied to that particular computer you
wouldn't need to be the original purchaser.

Phil Weldon

| Two years ago, I bought a Sony PC at an estate sale that had windows XP
| professonal installed.. Recently the "Windows not genuine" message
started
| showing up. I am sure the person I bought it from installed a pirated
copy
| of the XP Professional software on the PC. The PC has a sticker showing
| that it came with the XP home edition. Is there any way to get back to
the
| home edition (which has been paid for) without buying a retail copy?
|
| My daughter is using the PC and the features of XP profesional are not
| needed; XP home would be just fine.
|
| The PC is working fine; however, along with the not genuine message is a
| statementr that she is not elgible for updates from Microsoft
|
| No, I did not get any dsks with the PC so I cannot go back to store
| settings.
|
| There is a button that says get genuine. Does anyone know what happens if
| you start down that path?
|
| Any Ideas would be appreciated.
|
| Tom D.
|
|