Activated too many times

[Guest]

I had to reformat today after unfixable blue screen of deaths. I reformatted
and reinstalled fine. When the bubble in the bottom right corner came up
asking me to activate Windows, I filled in the product key from my copy.
After I clicked to submit it however, I was told that I had reached the
maximum number of times I could activate Windows. I was shocked, but not
surprised as I have reformatted and reinstalled probably around a dozen times
since last August. Do I have to buy a second copy of Windows now, or is there
some way to continue using the key from the copy I bought.

 

[Kevin]

You can activate as many times as you want. Call Microsoft and straighten
out the problem over the phone.

 

[Guest]

I had to reformat today after unfixable blue screen of deaths. I
reformatted
and reinstalled fine. When the bubble in the bottom right corner came
up
asking me to activate Windows, I filled in the product key from my
copy.
After I clicked to submit it however, I was told that I had reached
the
maximum number of times I could activate Windows. I was shocked, but
not
surprised as I have reformatted and reinstalled probably around a
dozen times
since last August. Do I have to buy a second copy of Windows now, or
is there
some way to continue using the key from the copy I bought.

The notification didn't give you a telephone number to call Microsoft to
do the activation via telephone?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

There is no limit on activations on the original computer.
Simply choose the option to activate by phone.

 

[pjp]

And make sure to tell them what you think about activation and how you'll be
sending them a bill for your time and effort to do same, at the current rate
of pay of B. Gates of course

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

If you want your complaint seen as a whine, that is a good idea.
If you want your complaint to have a better possibility of being seen by
someone who may be able to do something, the activation line is a bad place.

 

[Guest]

i read an online article in about.com that if you want to reformat your hard
drive but do not want to go through the process of activating your pc, just
backup all the files with the filename "wpa" (i.e., wpa.dll and wpa.bak) at
the c:\windows\system32 subfolder, then paste all wpa files in the same
subfolder and restart windows (the article also cautioned that this would
work on the pc of origin on which the hard drive is being formatted).

i have not tried it, but will this work? i need your opinion

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

No, those files can help if you perform a Repair Installation, but they are
worthless with a Clean Installation:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm
See the section "What about formatting a hard disk?"

 

[Guest]

that is my next question:

how do i perform a repair install?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Repair Installation:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm