Expired activation

[msnews.microsoft.com]

My sone got a cobbled together PC a while back, when his mobo blew up. The
version of XP has expired and he can no longer log in, and the activation
hotline rejects the key he has. Assume a pirated XP installed

SO - I am suggesting that he buys a new - kosher! - XP disc, and installs it
OVER his existing installation, to retain his data.

The obvious question - will this work?

Thanks

Jeremy Poynton

 

[DL]

When you change the mobo its neccessary to do a repair installation of
winxp, at the least.
Doesnt neccessarily mean its not a kosher cd, presumably he tried phone
activation as apposed to online activation & explained that broken hardware
was replaced
If the key was a pirate version that would have been stated.
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/
It could aslo be the case that its a bios locked OEM cd locked to origonal
hardware, but thats more likely to be seen with a large OEM supplier, eg HP

 

[msnews.microsoft.com]

This was in effect, a "new" PC, constructed from bits, I think - and my sone
has lost touch with whoever did it. The phone activation was automated, and
gave him no options as to what he might do with the invalid copy. We have
not been able to find a phone activation number (UK) that takes you to a
human being :-(

So - my original question stands

I am suggesting that he buys a new - kosher! - XP disc, and installs it OVER
his existing installation, to retain his data.

The obvious question - will this work?

Cheers
Jeremy

 

[DL]

Yes it will,
But why through good money away untill you are sure your cd is not genuine?
The Phone activation should eventually have led to a real person
Did you read the link?

 

[DL]

To add, where do you propose buying winxp pro from, since its no longer
generally available?

 

[Alias]

To add, where do you propose buying winxp pro from, since its no longer
generally available?

How about here?:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=368&name=Operating-Systems

Or, for XP Pro alone, here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116515

Alias

 

[DL]

Not applicable here

How about here?:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=368&name=Operating-Systems

Or, for XP Pro alone, here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116515

Alias

 

[Alias]

Not applicable here

A simple Google search revealed this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-XP-Professional-Service-Pack/dp/B00061H58I

and this:

http://www.nextag.co.uk/windows-xp-professional-upgrade-sp2/zzukzB1z42--compare-html

and this:

http://www.ecostsoftware.com/microsoft/microsoft-windows-xp-pro-sp2_p2405

and this:

http://uk.shopping.com/xGS-microsoft_windows_xp_professional_x64_edition_oem

Etc.

Alias

 

[Daave]

This was in effect, a "new" PC, constructed from bits, I think - and
my sone has lost touch with whoever did it. The phone activation was
automated, and gave him no options as to what he might do with the
invalid copy.

You're missing DL's point. He's saying that the XP installation isn't
necessarily invalid! There are other reasons an automatic over-the-Web
activation may not occur. The first thing to do is to follow the screen
prompts.

We have not been able to find a phone activation number (UK) that
takes
you to a human being :-(

It's not necessary to speak with a live person, at least right off the
bat. Again, you need to follow the screen prompts. For more information,
look here:

http://www.command-tab.com/2007/03/17/windows-xp-activation-in-5-minutes-or-less/

and scroll down to Phone Activation.

So - my original question stands

It only stands if you know for certain your son does not have a valid
version of XP. That has yet to be determined.

I am suggesting that he buys a new - kosher! - XP disc,

Assuming the product key *is* invalid, then I suppose purchasing a new
"kosher" XP disc will work just fine. Here is one place you may find
one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511

That's for XP Home. Chances are your son doesn't need the more expensive
XP Pro. Since this is an OEM disc, it can only ever be used (per the
license agreement) on this one PC.

and installs it OVER his existing installation, to retain his data.

The obvious question - will this work?

It depends on what the existing installation is. If it is a generic OEM
XP Home, then the product key that comes with the disc referred to above
in the New Egg link, may be used. Since there is a new motherboard,
almost surely a repair installation will be necessary. Here are the
instructions:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

But since no one knows the history of this machine, you should really
talk him into doing a clean install:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html