Registering Windows XP after re-installation

[Guest]

After uppgrading her Motherboard and reformatting her hard drive My daughter
can't register Windows XP. She purchased the PC from Costco and it came
preinstalled however she does have the product key but it won't allow her to
register. She called Microsoft on several occasions but can't get through to
them that she WANTS TO register the software to make it legal. How difficult
can it be?? Does anyone have a solution??

Norm

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Are you confusing Product Activation or Registration? Registration only is
required to be done ONCE and is optional. Product Activation needs to be
done each time Xp is installed, including re-installs.

 

[Alias]

Ah, the joys of activation. Nothing like confusing your PAYING CUSTOMERS
with this kind of hassle.

If you got a generic XP CD with your Costco computer, you can try to
activate and if it turns you down, you should see a number to call to get it
activated. You are not required to tell MS anything other than the 55 digit
code.

If you got a restore disk from Costco, you can try to call them but they
will probably tell you your warranty is up due to the motherboard change.

Alias

 

[kurttrail]

After uppgrading her Motherboard and reformatting her hard drive My
daughter can't register Windows XP. She purchased the PC from Costco
and it came preinstalled however she does have the product key but it
won't allow her to register. She called Microsoft on several
occasions but can't get through to them that she WANTS TO register
the software to make it legal. How difficult can it be?? Does anyone
have a solution??

Norm

Registration in completely voluntary. Activation is require. Which are
you talking about?

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Guest]

You are absolutely right, I am talking about Activating and it refuses to
accept the number. She also called microsoft and ended up being as confused
as the person at the other end of the line. Anyway, she has 5 days left. Any
advice to give her??

Thanks loads gents..

Norm

 

[kurttrail]

You are absolutely right, I am talking about Activating and it
refuses to accept the number. She also called microsoft and ended up
being as confused as the person at the other end of the line. Anyway,
she has 5 days left. Any advice to give her??

Thanks loads gents..

Are you saying the PA phone rep was unable to help her get activated?
I'd have her do phone activation again, and if he Rep can't help her,
have her ask to speak with a supervisor. There really is no excuse for
this.

If she is still having problems after that, then she may need to do a
repair install.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

It is a bit tricky so make sure she reads everything first, and then
prints it up before attempting a repair install.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Lawrence A. Wong]

I have a custom built computer, after I upgraded the motherboard and added a
new HDD, activation was completed fine... over the phone.

Since your daughter bought thecomputer from Costco, i can only assume that
it was a branded computer (HP, Compaq, eMachines Gateway etc.) and not
custom. Generally branded machines come with a special edition of Windows
XP. Example, Dell has a Dell Edition XP, same as the out-of-the-box retail,
but with a few add ins.

These special editions of XP usually come in the form of a recovery disk or
partition. Because of this special-to-the-manufacturer edition XP, it may
not like the fact that you swapped out a vital part of the computer like a
motherboard from a Factory set system.

Although this shouldn't matter when it comes to XP Activation, it might be
worth asking your manufacturer if this is the case.