pirated xp

[Tony Marcus]

If this message appears multiple times my apology.
This is a two part question:
1: I have a pirated windows xp pro on my machine(the machine was given to
me by a friend). I purchased a key from microsoft. When my operating
system was scanned it found files missing and would not install the new key.
When the disk arrives from microsoft will I have to reinstall or can the
files be extracted?
2: The is two windows folders on the c drive, one called windows and the
other windows1. The windows1 folder is the one being used. Can I just
delete the othe folder? Thanks, Tony

 

[Yves Leclerc]

If this message appears multiple times my apology.
This is a two part question:
1: I have a pirated windows xp pro on my machine(the machine was given to
me by a friend). I purchased a key from microsoft. When my operating
system was scanned it found files missing and would not install the new key.
When the disk arrives from microsoft will I have to reinstall or can the
files be extracted?
2: The is two windows folders on the c drive, one called windows and the
other windows1. The windows1 folder is the one being used. Can I just
delete the othe folder? Thanks, Tony

Pirated XP pro versions are usually based on 'Volume License Agreement"
versions which are usually known as Corp. edition in "warez" lingo.

1) You need to do a repair "re-install" to fix this.

 

[Vanguard]

If this message appears multiple times my apology.
This is a two part question:
1: I have a pirated windows xp pro on my machine(the machine was given to
me by a friend). I purchased a key from microsoft. When my operating
system was scanned it found files missing and would not install the new
key. When the disk arrives from microsoft will I have to reinstall or can
the files be extracted?
2: The is two windows folders on the c drive, one called windows and the
other windows1. The windows1 folder is the one being used. Can I just
delete the othe folder? Thanks, Tony

When you get the new CD from Microsoft, just select to format the drive
during the setup. The seller/donor gave you hardware which included a
"dirty" drive so you don't have the licenses for the other software
installed on that drive, either. Trying to run a Repair (aka in-place
upgrade) using the new CD will still end up with a polluted system. Trying
to unentangle multiple \Windows[x] directories can take a long time.

 

[Tim Slattery]

If this message appears multiple times my apology.
This is a two part question:
1: I have a pirated windows xp pro on my machine(the machine was given to
me by a friend). I purchased a key from microsoft. When my operating
system was scanned it found files missing and would not install the new key.
When the disk arrives from microsoft will I have to reinstall or can the
files be extracted?

You should be able to use the new CD to do a repair install.

2: The is two windows folders on the c drive, one called windows and the
other windows1. The windows1 folder is the one being used. Can I just
delete the othe folder? Thanks, Tony

Once the new disk arrives, try renaming the "windows" folder. If
everything continues to work for awhile, then you'll know that there's
nothing vital there and you can delete it. If something does go
haywire, just rename it back. If the machine absolutely won't run
until it's renamed boot from the new disk, go to the console (I forget
exactly what it's named, but you get a command-line interface,
something like DOS used to be) and rename the directory from there.

 

[Gordon]

The seller/donor gave you hardware which
included a "dirty" drive so you don't have the licenses for the other
software installed on that drive, either.

Umm how do you KNOW that?

 

[Rock]

If this message appears multiple times my apology.
This is a two part question:
1: I have a pirated windows xp pro on my machine(the machine was given to
me by a friend). I purchased a key from microsoft. When my operating
system was scanned it found files missing and would not install the new key.
When the disk arrives from microsoft will I have to reinstall or can the
files be extracted?
2: The is two windows folders on the c drive, one called windows and the
other windows1. The windows1 folder is the one being used. Can I just
delete the othe folder? Thanks, Tony

Do a repair install with the new CD and license. However, you're best
course, when getting a used computer, is to clean install windows. IN
doing this delete the current partitions and create new ones. You don't
know in what condition the system is; you'd be inheriting all the
problems and some could be nasty such as kiddie porn, viruses, etc.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Vanguard]

Umm how do you KNOW that?

And how is it you know that not?

 

[Gordon]

And how is it you know that not?

Just because the OP has a pirated version of windows does NOT mean that all
the other software he has is pirated!

 

[Bob I]

Ya, some of it could actually be freeware!

Just because the OP has a pirated version of windows does NOT mean that all
the other software he has is pirated!

 

[Alan]

Just because the OP has a pirated version of windows does NOT mean that
all the other software he has is pirated!

Quite right.

And the other part seems rather drastic too. A repair of the OS would be
worth trying first.

 

[Vanguard]

Ya, some of it could actually be freeware!

Some? Yes. All? Not likely. Otherwise, the OP wouldn't be asking about
Windows in the first place since they'd be using a free "alternative" OS. I
dare you to show me a single Windows users where Windows is the only
non-freeware program on their host. I haven't seen such a configuration in
over 23 years of seeing users of PCs.

 

[Vanguard]

And the other part seems rather drastic too. A repair of the OS would be
worth trying first.

Since Yves already suggested doing a Repair (aka in-place upgrade), I saw no
reason to duplicate that suggestion. I provided an alternative. We
actually need to have multiple respondents all saying to do the same thing?
Usually one post is sufficient if it provides enough information to the OP.

From the OP's mention of being given a laptop from a friend and that Windows
was known to be a pirated version (because the software did not accompany
the laptop), it is highly likely that what the new owner got was hardware
only which included a "dirty" drive because the donor was lazy, ignorant, or
uncaring to wipe the drive before handing over the hardware. I've seen the
same thing happen with large corporations, even with IT departments, that
are dispensing with their antiquated hosts but fail to provide the software
and instead just pawn off hosts but with dirty drives. In fact, it's been
rare that I've seen a used computer that did not include the software and
licenses to have its drive wiped. Invariably that task is relegated to the
new owner.

 

[thebarkeep]

Windows Genuine Advantage Install

Like an ass, I bought an XP Pro disk off of eBay, as a student trying to save a few bucks. At my ripe old age of 46, I can admit, that it was a tough decision to actually, finally, decide to buy an OS after all these years of betaware, and pulling IRCOPs on many warez nets. I am assuming I suppose, that you are waiting on the genuine advantage disk they are sending you so you can have a legit version of XP. Well, I can only tell you that I tried a couple of things. I wanted to save my directories and files so I tried to do a simple in-place update. No good. I then created a new partition and attempted the install. It installed fine, but was unable to validate. Only after doing a complete reformat (in NTFS), did I get a good install run, and successful validation. The old install of the bootleg vlk situation creates a code based on your hw configs, and allthough I can't remember off the top of my head what my old contact at MS said, it somehow tags your hardware, so a clean install is necessary. I say, image up your box, do a clean install, create a good backup ghost image of the new install, then pull your old stuff out of the image of your old backup iso. Just my 2 cents on how I got a good install.