PC hangs during activation and non-activation

[Wilfred]

Due to a processor breakdown, I had to change the processor and the
motherboard in my PC. The old version of XP (OEM) had the opinion my
configuration had changed too much, so I had to buy a new licence. So I did.
Another OEM version.

After installing the new version, XP shows a 'menu'. In this menu I can
choose to activate XP or not. Since the networkdrivers are not installed yet
(therefore XP has to work first), I chose not to activate XP yet. Thereafter
the computer just hangs for hours, with only some disk-activity. I tried this
a few times, without any result. Also when I chose to activate XP, the same
behaviour appears: a hanging computer with only some disk-activity once in a
while.
Does anyone have a solution for this problem.

PS: Why does (*#@*) Microsoft not have a proper helpdesk for this kind of
problems? They are the source of the problem.... Is this called 'proper
aftersales service'?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Due to a processor breakdown, I had to change the processor and the
motherboard in my PC. The old version of XP (OEM) had the opinion my
configuration had changed too much, so I had to buy a new licence.
So I did. Another OEM version.

After installing the new version, XP shows a 'menu'. In this menu I
can choose to activate XP or not. Since the networkdrivers are not
installed yet (therefore XP has to work first), I chose not to
activate XP yet. Thereafter the computer just hangs for hours, with
only some disk-activity. I tried this a few times, without any
result. Also when I chose to activate XP, the same behaviour
appears: a hanging computer with only some disk-activity once in a
while.
Does anyone have a solution for this problem.

PS: Why does (*#@*) Microsoft not have a proper helpdesk for this
kind of problems? They are the source of the problem.... Is this
called 'proper aftersales service'?

I see a couple of issues here - although the first thing you say is
plausible (in a way) - I doubt the software (Windows XP previously
installed) caused you to purchase a new license. In fact - you probably
just needed to perform a repair install when you changed your motherboard
with your original OEM installation media - assuming (of course) you had
actual media and not some restoration/recovery CD/DVD/partition like some
OEMs like to give customers and that media had at least SP2 integrated in.

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

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

Then after the repair installation of Windows XP - you'd likely need to do
the following:

Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update,
from Microsoft Update, or by using Automatic Updates after
you repair a Windows XP installation
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Ans you probably would have had to activate in the same manner (except you
would have had all your stuff intact the whole time - just needing to apply
all the updates again.)


Secondly - you do not need an active network to activate Windows XP. You
can choose to activate your license by telephone and it will give you a
(usually) toll-free phone number to call to activate your copy. Usually a
less than 5 minute phone call. However - it sounds like you are likely
missing some serious drivers (not just network) in your install. Do you
have available the motherboard chipset, network and video drivers? If so -
first thing you should do after what I assume was a clean installation is to
install those.

To troubleshoot the problem at hand - what happens if you boot the system in
Safe Mode? Does the sluggishness disappear?


Since you chose to purchase an OEM version (for its cost, most likely) - the
support for the OS installation/etc comes from the original equipment
manufacturer (OEM). In the case of your original license which likely came
with the computer - that support would be from the original
builders/installaer of the OS. In the case of the second license - you made
yourself the OEM.

 

[Wilfred]

Shenan,

Thanks for your answer, but I think I have not explained everything properly.

After I changed the processor and motherboard, I did perform a
repair-installation with the original OEM CD. Then I got the message that the
configuration was too much altered. I tried an activiation, but it did not
work.
After some research in the newsgroups I found out that some OEM XP-licences
will be invalid when you change procassor and motheroard, since those two
combined recognize the computerconfiguration. I checked this with the
Microsoft helpdesk. They confirmed this and told me I had to buy a new
licence. So I did.

With this new licence, I again tried a repair-installation, with the result
I mentioned yesterday in my first post.

Activition by telephone might be an option, but I do not get the chance from
XP to do so. After starting up XP, the first message I get is that windows
needs to be activated, and the question whether I want to activate it or not.
Both answers lead to the same result: a hanging PC, doing nothing for
hours....

What do I do wrong?

 

[Pat Glenn]

Have you tried activating using the MS update_key program? I had a similar
activation situation last week. 'Shehan Stanley' wrote me the following (in
thread "Upgrades and OEM".

The Genuine Advantage Product Key Update Tool is only valid for
users attempting to change their current non-genuine Product Key
to a genuine COA sticker or genuine Product Key - all without a
reinstall!
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=50346&clcid=0x409

 

[Wilfred]

Pat,

Thanks for your answer. I might try this, but how am I to run the program,
since windows won't start.?

 

[Wilfred]

How am I to run this program. In XP, directly after starting up, the only
message I get is that I am to activate XP (or not), whereafter my PC hangs.
In save-mode, this program cannot be run.

My conclusion: I cannot use this program to solve my problem.

Does anybody have a solution? I'm getting desperate...

Pat,

Thanks for your answer. I might try this, but how am I to run the program,
since windows won't start.?

 

[Pat Glenn]

Hi Wilfred

I'm not a tech, so I really cant get into too much detail beyond my own
experience. My understanding of the activation process is that the hardware
checks everything in the hardware enumeration against a coded key that was
made when the OS was first installed. Certain things are allowed to be
changed (video cards, scsi cards, CDROM drives, etc) but as far as the OEM
version is concerned, as soon as you change the CPU and MB, you have a new
computer and the OS will do anything it can to prevent proper operation
until you have a new licence in place. You should, however, have been given
a 72 hour grace period in which to take care of that matter

As you have a new OEM OS license, it sounds like you are trying to do
everything by the book.

I have a couple of suspicions though... Is the MB you replaced significantly
different from the one you initially had in the system? If so, you may be
locking up on a driver issue rather than the OS. I'm making the assumption
here that you have only changed the MB and that everything else
(specifically the old HD with the original OEM OS and the drivers associated
with running the old MB) remains the same.

You can try loading the CD of device drivers that came with the MB, (I'm not
sure if you can do this from safe mode) but if you are unable to do this
you might be forced to start with a fresh drive and reinstall the system
from scratch. But there is one ray of hope. Since you have a new OEM
license, the OS will not be tied to the old MB, so it should install just
fine. Do you have backups of your data?

 

[Wilfred]

Hi Pat,

Thank you for your extensive answer.
You made the right conclusion: the new MB is significantly different.
Instead of the old AMD MB I replaced it with Intel, since I had to replace MB
and processor all together anyway. And yes, I re-use(d) the old HD, which
recognizes (probably) only AMD-setups, even with my new OS.

I agree with your conclusion that my new configuration had to accept the
new OS. Apparently, I have discovered another bug in Microsoft XP: Installing
a brand new OS on a new MB plus new processor, but with an old HD (to keep
the old programs etc.) does not work properly.
I have now chosen to reformat the HD, lose data and re-install all programs.

Thank you very much Microsoft, for the 'quality' of your products!

And Pat: However you were not able to solve the problem, thank you for your
co-operation.

Kind regards,
Wilfred