Ran XP prod key update tool - now getting "activation period hasexpired" - help...

[XP Guy]

I'm trying to help someone long-distance who started getting the "your
installation of XP is not genuine" message last week.

Today I told them to ignore the message, and download the XP product key
update tool from here:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=50346&clcid=0x409

And follow the instructions to install a new product key (brand-new key,
never before used).

They did that, and the program did not give any error messages. It asked
(or wanted) the system to be rebooted, and it was.

Upon rebooting, I believe the XP product activation service came up, and
asked the user if they wanted to register and validate or just validate
the system. User chose validate over the internet. This did not work. It
resulted in this message:

- 45106
- Activation period has expired

I told the user to go to the telephone registration option and select
"change key". User typed in new key (again) and it took it, but still
resulted in same message as above.

Why does this happen?

I've tested the product activation tool on an identical system (using
different keys) and it worked (even the product activation step after
rebooting). The difference is that the identical system had not
triggered or was not in the
"your-installation-of-windows-may-not-be-genuine" mode.

What steps do I need to talk the user through in order to resolve this?

Is the complete telephonic registration method more reliable and known
to work in these situations?

Or do I have to tell them to boot into safe mode and play around with
registry keys?

 

[Andrew E.]

You skiped a major part in telephone activation..Dont use the internet conn-
ection to validate,in telephone,once xp has rejected the
numbers/letters,leave
screen as is,call microsoft activation,the number is.888 571 2048 It will
ask
to re enter data,probably will reject it also,however at that point,it'll
connect
you to a live rep.who will give new activation data to them for xp...

 

[ZMan]

I have legally purchased a copy of XP Pro when it came out, and everytime I
have to reinstall, I have to contact Microsoft to be interrogated about when
and how I purchased my copy of Windows XP Professional.

I cannot stand their darn activation process. If I purchased a legal copy,
why can't I install it 10 million times?

I know, legally, it's their software, but do you know how much of a pain in
the butt it is to go through this process? And especially when the folks
from India pick up the phone and ask me stuff they should be asking
criminals.

My next OS with be a Mac OS, or maybe, Unix.

I love Windows XP and do not want to switch, but if I have to contact them
every single time I have to reinstall, and explain to them why, being
humiliated, I'd rather go elsewhere.

 

[Ray Parrish]

Bravo! May I suggest the most popular of Linux distributions, Ubuntu as
your next operating system? I'm a recent convert myself and even though
Ubuntu installed itself perfectly in a dual boot configuration with my
Windows XP Home, I seldom use Windows anymore.

Have a look at this article I wrote about the differences between the
two operating systems -

<http://www.rayslinks.com/Comparison of Windows and Ubuntu Linux.html>

Later, Ray Parrish

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have legally purchased a copy of XP Pro when it came out, and
everytime I have to reinstall, I have to contact Microsoft to be
interrogated about when and how I purchased my copy of Windows XP
Professional.
I cannot stand their darn activation process. If I purchased a
legal copy, why can't I install it 10 million times?

I know, legally, it's their software, but do you know how much of a
pain in the butt it is to go through this process? And especially
when the folks from India pick up the phone and ask me stuff they
should be asking criminals.

My next OS with be a Mac OS, or maybe, Unix.

I love Windows XP and do not want to switch, but if I have to
contact them every single time I have to reinstall, and explain to
them why, being humiliated, I'd rather go elsewhere.

What are you doing wrong that you have to reinstall so much? You could use
tools to easily avoid such trouble - including proper maintenance if the
issue is some sort of performance/infestation thing.

All OSes have their issues - trust me. If you want to switch - don't do it
because you think you will get better support or not have as many problems.
Do it because the OS you switch to does what you need. Otherwise - you are
just trading one set of issues for an unfamilar set of issues. ;-)

 

[shawn]

I have XP Pro and I lost my key once. It was the worst thing to call
Microsoft and purchase a new key for $10. I got some Indian dude on the
phone from who knows where. I couldn't understand what he was saying. I had
to have him repeat the license key 4 or 5 times in order to get it to let me
reinstall.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have XP Pro and I lost my key once. It was the worst thing to call
Microsoft and purchase a new key for $10. I got some Indian dude on
the phone from who knows where. I couldn't understand what he was
saying. I had to have him repeat the license key 4 or 5 times in
order to get it to let me reinstall.

An effort forced due to lack of backups and organization...
IMO.