genuine advantage issue

[Dabbler]

I was recently given a corporate NetVista (executive sold one of his houses
and left a couple of desktops behind for his property manager who's never
owned a computer and didn't want them. Since I already have a high end
desktop I offered the NetVista (Windows XP Pro SP1 with 128 MB if you can
believe that) to a friend. After getting it connected and booting up all was
well till I realized there was no AV/Firewall installed. Windows Firewall
icon doesn't even appear in Control Panel. When I tried to download free
Comodo Pro Internet Suite it required at least SP 2. No problem I thought,
and tried Windows Update. Lo and behold WGA says it can't validate Windows
and the system has a key that was not provided by MS.

Before we write this off as pirated software in which case we will just toss
the PC on the tree lawn come trash day... are there any circumstances under
which this might be a legitimate copy of XP? I'm convinced the exec isn't one
to install pirated software (if he had he would never have settled for 128MB
to run XP and it's unlikely that his corporate IT was deploying pirated
copies. Is there any corporate program where they would be installing a
special OEM/corporate version which might not pass genuine validation?
Obviously the system has been activated because it runs.

Hoping for some good news or I'm going to look pretty stupid offering him a
free computer!

 

[Al Falfa]

I was recently given a corporate NetVista ... (Windows XP Pro SP1 with
128 MB ... When I tried to download free Comodo Pro Internet Suite it
required at least SP 2. ... WGA says it can't validate Windows and the
system has a key that was not provided by MS.
Before we write this off as pirated software ... are there any
circumstances under which this might be a legitimate copy of XP? ...
Is there any corporate program where they would be installing a special
OEM/corporate version which might not pass genuine validation? ...
Hoping for some good news ...

My pre-installed OEM XP suffers this when I download from MSFT.
Visit http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/diag/ > Start Diagnostics
If you manage to jump through all the hoops, and it says you really
are genuine, there is a good chance you will then be able to update.
But, you might as well go straight to SP3 (needs at least SP1).

 

[Leon]

I recently sold a perfectly legitimate copy of Windows XP Pro with product
key to a plumber for $20. Too bad I did not know of your suffering or I
would offer to help you. Maybe you could try eBay? How much would you offer
to sell the PC? What is a NetVista PC? Is it legally registered? What are
the specs? How much did the corporate executive sell his house for? Was he
forced to sell? Do you have a lawyer?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Please Run MGA Diagnostic Before Posting:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/...p/thread/c2be4a37-9ac3-4674-9b30-08fdc9b99dd8


I was recently given a corporate NetVista (executive sold one of his houses
and left a couple of desktops behind for his property manager who's never
owned a computer and didn't want them. Since I already have a high end
desktop I offered the NetVista (Windows XP Pro SP1 with 128 MB if you can
believe that) to a friend. After getting it connected and booting up all was
well till I realized there was no AV/Firewall installed. Windows Firewall
icon doesn't even appear in Control Panel. When I tried to download free
Comodo Pro Internet Suite it required at least SP 2. No problem I thought,
and tried Windows Update. Lo and behold WGA says it can't validate Windows
and the system has a key that was not provided by MS.

Before we write this off as pirated software in which case we will just toss
the PC on the tree lawn come trash day... are there any circumstances under
which this might be a legitimate copy of XP? I'm convinced the exec isn't one
to install pirated software (if he had he would never have settled for 128MB
to run XP and it's unlikely that his corporate IT was deploying pirated
copies. Is there any corporate program where they would be installing a
special OEM/corporate version which might not pass genuine validation?
Obviously the system has been activated because it runs.

Hoping for some good news or I'm going to look pretty stupid offering him a
free computer!

 

[Dabbler]

Does Mom know you're out playing in the middle of the information
superhighway again?

 

[Jim]

I was recently given a corporate NetVista (executive sold one of his houses
and left a couple of desktops behind for his property manager who's never
owned a computer and didn't want them. Since I already have a high end
desktop I offered the NetVista (Windows XP Pro SP1 with 128 MB if you can
believe that) to a friend. After getting it connected and booting up all was
well till I realized there was no AV/Firewall installed. Windows Firewall
icon doesn't even appear in Control Panel. When I tried to download free
Comodo Pro Internet Suite it required at least SP 2. No problem I thought,
and tried Windows Update. Lo and behold WGA says it can't validate Windows
and the system has a key that was not provided by MS.

Before we write this off as pirated software in which case we will just toss
the PC on the tree lawn come trash day... are there any circumstances under
which this might be a legitimate copy of XP? I'm convinced the exec isn't one
to install pirated software (if he had he would never have settled for 128MB
to run XP and it's unlikely that his corporate IT was deploying pirated
copies. Is there any corporate program where they would be installing a
special OEM/corporate version which might not pass genuine validation?
Obviously the system has been activated because it runs.

Hoping for some good news or I'm going to look pretty stupid offering him a
free computer!

I believe "corporate" systems are different to home systems .

 

[XP Guy]

Dabbler wrote:

... in which case we will just toss the PC on the tree lawn come
trash day...

What is a "tree lawn" ?