I know I have an illegal copy...

[Guest]

Recently, I attended an auction and bought a relatively new computer with an okay set of specs (1.80GHz AMD Athlon XP, 128 Mgb RAM, etc.) for a reasonable price.

Funny part is that this was a sale of items seized from criminals.

I got the computer home, switched it on, and was pleased to see that XP Pro was installed. I went about aquiring all the pertinent udates and what not, but when it came down to installing Service Pack 1, I was promptly told that I have an invalid registry key - despite XP being activated prior to my buying the computer.

How is this possible? How can I have and ACTIVATED copy of XP if the registry key is invalid?

Is there any possible way of installing SP1? I admit that I purchased the computer at auction because I am not financially well-to-do. Quite frankly, I can not afford to purchase a new copy of XP - the current retail price is only $50 less than what I payed for this computer.

It would take me months to save up enough cash to purchase an XP CD - but I'm already having issues with some of my hardware, and internal problems with XP that are supposedly covered in SP1.

Is there any help at all? Or am I going to be just another victim of piracy?

If anybody has any help or suggestions, please e-mail them to me. I don't expect Microsoft to be much help - most likely they will insist that I stop using my Windows XP and cough up some cash.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If you are getting the following error message when attempting to update to SP1:

Error Message: The Product Key Used to Install Windows Is Invalid
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326904&Product=winxp

You'll have to purchase a new "Full Version" of Windows XP Professional
and perform a "Repair Install" using the new Windows XP Pro CD and Product Key
that comes with it. (You cannot simply change the Product Key)

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----


| Recently, I attended an auction and bought a relatively new computer with an okay set of specs (1.80GHz AMD
Athlon XP, 128 Mgb RAM, etc.) for a reasonable price.
|
| Funny part is that this was a sale of items seized from criminals.
|
| I got the computer home, switched it on, and was pleased to see that XP Pro was installed. I went about
aquiring all the pertinent udates and what not, but when it came down to installing Service Pack 1, I was
promptly told that I have an invalid registry key - despite XP being activated prior to my buying the
computer.
|
| How is this possible? How can I have and ACTIVATED copy of XP if the registry key is invalid?
|
| Is there any possible way of installing SP1? I admit that I purchased the computer at auction because I am
not financially well-to-do. Quite frankly, I can not afford to purchase a new copy of XP - the current retail
price is only $50 less than what I payed for this computer.
|
| It would take me months to save up enough cash to purchase an XP CD - but I'm already having issues with
some of my hardware, and internal problems with XP that are supposedly covered in SP1.
|
| Is there any help at all? Or am I going to be just another victim of piracy?
|
| If anybody has any help or suggestions, please e-mail them to me. I don't expect Microsoft to be much help -
most likely they will insist that I stop using my Windows XP and cough up some cash.

 

[James Martin]

Correction--You are not the victim of piracy here, Microsoft is. What your
looking to do is quite possible, but you're not going to find the answer
here. If you can't afford to purchase the product legitimitely, consider
downloading Linux which is FREE. Mandrake Linux at
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/ is a great version for a beginner, and you
might be delightfully suprised.

Recently, I attended an auction and bought a relatively new computer with

an okay set of specs (1.80GHz AMD Athlon XP, 128 Mgb RAM, etc.) for a
reasonable price.

Funny part is that this was a sale of items seized from criminals.

I got the computer home, switched it on, and was pleased to see that XP

Pro was installed. I went about aquiring all the pertinent udates and what
not, but when it came down to installing Service Pack 1, I was promptly told
that I have an invalid registry key - despite XP being activated prior to my
buying the computer.

How is this possible? How can I have and ACTIVATED copy of XP if the registry key is invalid?

Is there any possible way of installing SP1? I admit that I purchased the

computer at auction because I am not financially well-to-do. Quite frankly,
I can not afford to purchase a new copy of XP - the current retail price is
only $50 less than what I payed for this computer.

It would take me months to save up enough cash to purchase an XP CD - but

I'm already having issues with some of my hardware, and internal problems
with XP that are supposedly covered in SP1.

Is there any help at all? Or am I going to be just another victim of piracy?

If anybody has any help or suggestions, please e-mail them to me. I don't

expect Microsoft to be much help - most likely they will insist that I stop
using my Windows XP and cough up some cash.

 

[Richard Urban]

Can't help you. Sorry! You DO need a valid key. How you got yours is
immaterial. You now need a good one.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

Recently, I attended an auction and bought a relatively new computer with

an okay set of specs (1.80GHz AMD Athlon XP, 128 Mgb RAM, etc.) for a
reasonable price.

Funny part is that this was a sale of items seized from criminals.

I got the computer home, switched it on, and was pleased to see that XP

Pro was installed. I went about aquiring all the pertinent udates and what
not, but when it came down to installing Service Pack 1, I was promptly told
that I have an invalid registry key - despite XP being activated prior to my
buying the computer.

How is this possible? How can I have and ACTIVATED copy of XP if the registry key is invalid?

Is there any possible way of installing SP1? I admit that I purchased the

computer at auction because I am not financially well-to-do. Quite frankly,
I can not afford to purchase a new copy of XP - the current retail price is
only $50 less than what I payed for this computer.

It would take me months to save up enough cash to purchase an XP CD - but

I'm already having issues with some of my hardware, and internal problems
with XP that are supposedly covered in SP1.

Is there any help at all? Or am I going to be just another victim of piracy?

If anybody has any help or suggestions, please e-mail them to me. I don't

expect Microsoft to be much help - most likely they will insist that I stop
using my Windows XP and cough up some cash.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Are you trying to install Service Pack 1a and getting the
following:

The Product Key Used to Install Windows Is Invalid
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q326904

You need to purchase and use a _legitimate_ full retail copy of
WinXP Pro to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation,
using the new CD and Product Key.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

Remember, you should also report whomever sold you the pirated
software to the pertinent law enforcement agencies; you've been
defrauded.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

Recently, I attended an auction and bought a relatively new computer

with an okay set of specs (1.80GHz AMD Athlon XP, 128 Mgb RAM, etc.)
for a reasonable price.

Funny part is that this was a sale of items seized from criminals.

I got the computer home, switched it on, and was pleased to see that

XP Pro was installed. I went about aquiring all the pertinent udates
and what not, but when it came down to installing Service Pack 1, I
was promptly told that I have an invalid registry key - despite XP
being activated prior to my buying the computer.

How is this possible? How can I have and ACTIVATED copy of XP if the registry key is invalid?

Is there any possible way of installing SP1? I admit that I

purchased the computer at auction because I am not financially
well-to-do. Quite frankly, I can not afford to purchase a new copy of
XP - the current retail price is only $50 less than what I payed for
this computer.

It would take me months to save up enough cash to purchase an XP

CD - but I'm already having issues with some of my hardware, and
internal problems with XP that are supposedly covered in SP1.

Is there any help at all? Or am I going to be just another victim of piracy?

If anybody has any help or suggestions, please e-mail them to me. I

don't expect Microsoft to be much help - most likely they will insist
that I stop using my Windows XP and cough up some cash.

 

[Guest]

See? The poor sod was right!

Microsoft was NOT at all interested in helping they guy.

They did exactly as was predicted: they want him to "cough up the cash".

You'd think they didn't have billions of dollars and a monopoly on PC users!

Bad Billy!