HUGE problem while upgrading to Service Pack

  • Thread starter Thread starter stef
  • Start date Start date
S

stef

Win XP HE

Follow-up to: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain

Hi, I did not have the full SP1--only some of the hotfixes.
A program that I want to install absolutely needs at least SP1 so I decided
to take the plunge and upgrade to SP1a
I 1st went onto microsoft's website and used the update web service.It
wanted me to 1st download the Validation Aplet before doing anything else.
So, I told it to download it and it did, went through the check and told me
could not validate Windows--of course to my great surprise at I am using a
Sony Vaio laptop boutgh from Best Buy and I sure don't think Sony puts
iilegal copies of Windows as OEM versions on its line of laptop.
I decided to uninstall this patch since it wasn't doing anything for
me--using Restore to earllier point. BUT, Restore does uninstall it--that
is by design from MS--so I Undid Restoration--what was the point....
I downloaded SP1a full version to my hard drive (so I COULD uninstall it in
case of conflicts--I had checked before with SONY for any potentila drive
problems, etc. and they had told me no problems.)
I installed SP1a, and during reboot process clicked on "No" to
restart--meant to click on "yes' but made a mistake. Nut no matter, I
re-booted myself right after that.
Here comes the HUGE problem:
Windows won't boot.
It gets stcuk loading my settings and gives the following error message:
Windows Product Activation (Title in the Title Bar.)
A problem is preventing Windos from accurately checking the license for this
computer. Error Code: 0x800700f.
I click on OK, but then Windowsa wants to log off; goes through screen
"saving your settings", then wants to reboot so goes through "loading your
settings" and--of course, gives the error message again, on and on and on,
in an endless loop, no matter what I do.
I tried booting in Safe Mode, but it gets stuck after a waile.
I tried to boot in DOS, no go.
I tried booting with "last successful configuration", no go.
All of my personal and business info is on that laptop and this is a HUGE
problem for me.

Can anyone help, please?
 
Hi,
Thanks. That's the same error number but not the same error message.
The other problem is that I cannot complete a boot whether in DOS or safe
mode so cannot apply that fix.....
 
AND in regular Safe Mode.
I thought it was just getitng stuck in that process but it eventually does
boot-up in either of the 2 safe modes (regular and command prompt) after
quite a whilw.

Perhaps I can run the SP1a uninstaller from Safe Mode?
 
stef said:
Win XP HE

Follow-up to: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain

Hi, I did not have the full SP1--only some of the hotfixes.
A program that I want to install absolutely needs at least SP1 so I decided
to take the plunge and upgrade to SP1a
I 1st went onto microsoft's website and used the update web service.It
wanted me to 1st download the Validation Aplet before doing anything else.
So, I told it to download it and it did, went through the check and told me
could not validate Windows--of course to my great surprise at I am using a
Sony Vaio laptop boutgh from Best Buy and I sure don't think Sony puts
iilegal copies of Windows as OEM versions on its line of laptop.
I decided to uninstall this patch since it wasn't doing anything for
me--using Restore to earllier point. BUT, Restore does uninstall it--that
is by design from MS--so I Undid Restoration--what was the point....
I downloaded SP1a full version to my hard drive (so I COULD uninstall it in
case of conflicts--I had checked before with SONY for any potentila drive
problems, etc. and they had told me no problems.)
I installed SP1a, and during reboot process clicked on "No" to
restart--meant to click on "yes' but made a mistake. Nut no matter, I
re-booted myself right after that.
Here comes the HUGE problem:
Windows won't boot.
It gets stcuk loading my settings and gives the following error message:
Windows Product Activation (Title in the Title Bar.)
A problem is preventing Windos from accurately checking the license for this
computer. Error Code: 0x800700f.
I click on OK, but then Windowsa wants to log off; goes through screen
"saving your settings", then wants to reboot so goes through "loading your
settings" and--of course, gives the error message again, on and on and on,
in an endless loop, no matter what I do.
I tried booting in Safe Mode, but it gets stuck after a waile.
I tried to boot in DOS, no go.
I tried booting with "last successful configuration", no go.
All of my personal and business info is on that laptop and this is a HUGE
problem for me.

Can anyone help, please?
Click to expand...

No easy solution. Best route would be to take the laptop back
to the seller and have Windows XP reloaded. Of course, this will
wipe out any data that currently exists. An alternate method is
to do the reloading yourself by downloading the recovery ISO file
from the Sony website for this particular VAIO laptop model. The
same caveat applies. Finally, the most costly but effective way
is to buy your own Windows XP cdrom (either "generic" OEM or the
retail box) and attempt a repair installation. Might not work as
the original XP is certainly an OEM version.

For future reference, heed the warnings about performing updates.
Make a backup...especially of anh important files.
 
Ghostrider said:
No easy solution. Best route would be to take the laptop back
to the seller and have Windows XP reloaded. Of course, this will
wipe out any data that currently exists. An alternate method is
to do the reloading yourself by downloading the recovery ISO file
from the Sony website for this particular VAIO laptop model. The
same caveat applies. Finally, the most costly but effective way
is to buy your own Windows XP cdrom (either "generic" OEM or the
retail box) and attempt a repair installation. Might not work as
the original XP is certainly an OEM version.

For future reference, heed the warnings about performing updates.
Make a backup...especially of anh important files.
Click to expand...

Clearly, if I do recover I will make backups, etc.
I do have the recovery CD's from Sony but again, I do not want to resotre
and lose everything.
To me, the data is MORE valuable than the hardware itself.

How and where wold I buy an OEM version of Windows?
Do you think I can buy a retail version but the upgraded ($70 or
something--not the FULL version?)
 
(posting from WindowsUpdate NG)
"stef" <stef.bm_at_hotmail.removethis.com> wrote in message
....
A problem is preventing Windos from accurately checking the license for this
computer. Error Code: 0x800700f.
Click to expand...


It may help if you copy and paste instead of trying to transcribe
your error message. I suspect at least 2 typos above.

E.g. correcting (hopefully) for the typos and searching finds:

A possibly more relevant forum regarding the message:

http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=501936&SiteID=25

(MSN search for
"A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer" site:microsoft.com
)

and another one regarding the code

http://groups.google.com/groups/sea...OR+MVP)++group:microsoft.*&start=0&scoring=d&

(Google Groups search for
8007000F OR 0x8007000F) (MSFT OR MVP) group:microsoft.*
)


Note that for some strange reason it is only Office newsgroups which
seem to have seen that code before. BTW did I guess it correctly
or was the position of the F in what you wrote correct and there was
another digit missing after that?


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
---
 
Robert Aldwinckle said:
(posting from WindowsUpdate NG)
"stef" <stef.bm_at_hotmail.removethis.com> wrote in message
...


It may help if you copy and paste instead of trying to transcribe
your error message. I suspect at least 2 typos above.

E.g. correcting (hopefully) for the typos and searching finds:

A possibly more relevant forum regarding the message:

http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=501936&SiteID=25

(MSN search for
"A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license
Click to expand...
for this computer" site:microsoft.com
)

and another one regarding the code

http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=(8007000F+OR+0x8007000F)++(MSFT+OR+
MVP)++group%3Amicrosoft.*&start=0&scoring=d&

(Google Groups search for
8007000F OR 0x8007000F) (MSFT OR MVP) group:microsoft.*
)


Note that for some strange reason it is only Office newsgroups which
seem to have seen that code before. BTW did I guess it correctly
or was the position of the F in what you wrote correct and there was
another digit missing after that?


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
Click to expand...
Robert, please.... My computer is not even BOOTING UP. How do u want me
to copy and paste exactly....? Come on.... I am using someone else's
computer to post here.
I do see from the link u posted that others are having similar problems.
But no resolution given yet.
I will probably go ahead sith the SP1 Uninstall and take it from there....
 
Good news, I have recovered my PC by uninstalling SP1 from Safe Mode (which
turned to boot---as I posted earlier--even if having to look at a screen
that seemed to be stuck for 10 minutes during the process; but eventually
booted up.)
I've learned that apparently, from Sony's own words, I can never install any
service packs in the future, if I don't do a full recovery on my system
using Sony's Recovery disks. That doesn't seem to make sense at all,
but....
I've also seen that the Validation Tool applet on Microsoft's upgrade
website is creating havoc for a lot of Windows OEM owners, etc.
Thanks to all who offered informed replies to my posts here. It is very
much appreciated.
I'll have to figure something out with regards to the service packs if I
want to be able to use whatever software requires one of these service
packs.
I've thought of perhaps buying an upgrade to Win XP PRO edition so that it
would 1) offer to upgrade my Windows version (Win XP HE OEM) WITHOUT forcing
to completely re-install the OS so that I would not lose any of my programs
already installed and personal data (as I would if doing a recovery); and 2)
take over the "OEM" status (so it would validate); and 3) it would already
contain SP2....but I am wary now....
 
stef said:
Good news, I have recovered my PC by uninstalling SP1 from Safe Mode (which
turned to boot---as I posted earlier--even if having to look at a screen
that seemed to be stuck for 10 minutes during the process; but eventually
booted up.)
I've learned that apparently, from Sony's own words, I can never install any
service packs in the future, if I don't do a full recovery on my system
using Sony's Recovery disks. That doesn't seem to make sense at all,
but....
I've also seen that the Validation Tool applet on Microsoft's upgrade
website is creating havoc for a lot of Windows OEM owners, etc.
Thanks to all who offered informed replies to my posts here. It is very
much appreciated.
I'll have to figure something out with regards to the service packs if I
want to be able to use whatever software requires one of these service
packs.
I've thought of perhaps buying an upgrade to Win XP PRO edition so that it
would 1) offer to upgrade my Windows version (Win XP HE OEM) WITHOUT forcing
to completely re-install the OS so that I would not lose any of my programs
already installed and personal data (as I would if doing a recovery); and 2)
take over the "OEM" status (so it would validate); and 3) it would already
contain SP2....but I am wary now....
Click to expand...

This problem has, very likely, nothing to do with Sony, magic smoke, or
anything else. It likely has everything to do with the state of your
HD, applications running when trying to do the updates, etc.

The first thing to do is run from a command prompt chkdsk /r to repair
any NTFS errors on the HD. Next, do a complete (deep) anti-virus and
malware scans. Next, run Disk Cleanup to rid the HD of temp files, etc.
Next, find your XP install CD (not needed if the folder i386 is in the
Windows directory) and run from a command prompt (or the run command)
sfc /scannow to validate the condition of the base system files.
Lastly, reboot without an internet connection, terminate all programs
running at startup including software firewall and anti-virus, before
starting the update. I believe if you take these steps to fix errors in
the HD and system files, you will have a much better update experience.
 
Quaoar said:
This problem has, very likely, nothing to do with Sony, magic smoke, or
anything else. It likely has everything to do with the state of your
HD, applications running when trying to do the updates, etc.

The first thing to do is run from a command prompt chkdsk /r to repair
any NTFS errors on the HD. Next, do a complete (deep) anti-virus and
malware scans. Next, run Disk Cleanup to rid the HD of temp files, etc.
Next, find your XP install CD (not needed if the folder i386 is in the
Windows directory) and run from a command prompt (or the run command)
sfc /scannow to validate the condition of the base system files. Lastly,
reboot without an internet connection, terminate all programs running at
startup including software firewall and anti-virus, before starting the
update. I believe if you take these steps to fix errors in the HD and
system files, you will have a much better update experience.
Click to expand...

Tx 4 ur post; unfortunately, none of what u say is applicable. I do
complete deep AV scans every week; i have anty-malware scanning my Ram
all the time w/ state of the art software--not the usual anti-spyware u
find; etc. The machine is super clean already.
chkdsk does nothing effective. and may even damage disk sectors--making
them unavailable hence.
sfc /scannow: what if it cannot validate the condition of the base
systme file, 4 some reason, then what? OEM XP versions do not include
Recovery Console so cannot repair install. only overwrite--which is out
of the question.
The problem is WGA related where, while one can understand the idea
behind it, its technical implementation is not up to the standard of its
stated objective, in my opinion.
e.g. my OEM version is valid and reads as valid by WAG Diagnostic Tool
from MS--and has been confirmed to me as valid by an MS tech, yet still
creates some kind of false positive creating that boot error after SP1
install.
 
Back
Top