certificate of authenticity

C

chris

Hello, I need to reformat my computer using my copy of
windows xp pro. Problem: where certificate of
authenticity sticker should be on booklet is missing. Is
there a way to get another one from Microsoft without
having to pay for another copy? Thank you.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

In
chris said:
Hello, I need to reformat my computer using my copy of
windows xp pro.
Click to expand...


Why? Despite the number of people who seem to recommend this for
almost any problem at all, it's almost always the wrong thing to
do.

Problem: where certificate of
authenticity sticker should be on booklet is missing. Is
there a way to get another one from Microsoft without
having to pay for another copy? Thank you.
Click to expand...


You can find the Product key with any of these:

ViewKeyXP www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/ViewKeyXP.exe

AIDA32 http: www.aumha.org/freeware.htm

Magical Jellybean www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Belarc Advisor www.belarc.com/free_download.html
 
G

Guest

Why? Despite the number of people who seem to recommend
this for
almost any problem at all, it's almost always the wrong thing to
do.
Click to expand...

Well Blake, I seem to have a trojan that my antivirus
client detects but cannot find in a manual scan. Numerous
other virus clients could not find it, I could not
manually find the infected file myself...I just am not
sure what else to do besides wipe the hard disk.
 
P

Phil

Well Blake, I seem to have a trojan that my antivirus
client detects but cannot find in a manual scan. Numerous
other virus clients could not find it, I could not
manually find the infected file myself...I just am not
sure what else to do besides wipe the hard disk.
Click to expand...

The virus is probably in your system restore file. You need to turn system
restore off when cleaning viruses and clear the restore points.
Right click my computer, properties, system restore, check: turn off system
restore. Ok out and reboot. All your restore points will now be gone. Turn
system restore back on and do a virus scan. Hopefully it is gone.
 
S

Steve Nielsen

You are taking the advice from that site to the extreme and out of context.

Quoted from the site you gave url for:

"If you have a system that has been completely compromised, the only
thing you can do is to flatten the system (reformat the system disk) and
rebuild it from scratch (reinstall Windows and your applications)."

Critical phrase = "completely compromised". Of course if a system is
COMPLETELY compromised there is NO CHOICE but to start over fresh,

There is no need to nuke and rebuild from a single infection or even
multiple infections provided one can properly identify and deal with the
problems accordingly. One might actually LEARN something in the process,
too.

Steve
 
Y

Yves Leclerc

If you have a booklet which had a space where you could sticj the COA
sticker, then this is a OEM version of with XP and Microsoft will not help
you. OEM support MUST come directly from where you purchase the Windows
XP/PC.


BTW. Sometime the manufacturer will stick the sticker onto the PC.
 
P

Plato

Phil said:
The virus is probably in your system restore file. You need to turn system
restore off when cleaning viruses and clear the restore points.
Right click my computer, properties, system restore, check: turn off system
restore. Ok out and reboot. All your restore points will now be gone. Turn
system restore back on and do a virus scan. Hopefully it is gone.
Click to expand...

Darn right you have to turn it off. Remember winMe? Was it called
goback? Whatever, it stunk. You could go and manually use add/remove to
get rid of spyware [ps had to do it manually back then] and/or use
msconfig to disable startups of spyware and wala, on the next boot winMe
would ignore all your changes if you didn't disable the goback/restore
thinggy. Stupie winMe I'm glad I never spent the time to support it on
my page.
 
A

Alex Nichol

chris said:
Hello, I need to reformat my computer using my copy of
windows xp pro. Problem: where certificate of
authenticity sticker should be on booklet is missing. Is
there a way to get another one from Microsoft without
having to pay for another copy?
Click to expand...

get the free Everest Home edition from
http://www.lavalys.com/index.php?page=product&view=1
which is an excellent general System Info tool, and its Operating System
- Operating System page will tell you the one used

Note that if the machine came with XP installed, this will probably give
a key used in producing an original image, then cloned to all machines
they make. So it is not the one for a reinstall. But then the key will
be on a label on the case of the machine

But as others have said, this is overkill where there is a single virus
infection. Matters are different in businesses, where the
administrators will have an exact image of the standard setup for their
organisation, and where data is stored separately on a server. It is
quick and certain *for them* to use those images.

But it is likely that your case is simply one of the virus having been
included in a System restore point. It can do no harm there, unless
you restore to the point concerned. So wait for a new clean one to have
been made (or go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools -
System Restore and create one manually) then Start - All Programs -
Accessories - System Tools - Disk Cleanup and on the More Options use
the button to delete all but the more recent point - the virus will go
along with the point it is in
 

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