Registration Wizard did not work. Please help me register.

[Guest]

My mom just purchased a new Compaq, and I'm trying to help her register her
copy of Windows Home. Running the Microsoft XP registration wizard results
in the error message that my phone line is disconnected. This message
appears before the modem does anything. The modem opens the phone line and
I can hear it dialling, but the wizard is in an error state.

Next we connected to Frontiernet using the modem, started the wizard, which
found the internet connection and proceeded to time out after answering all
of the questions stating that the Microsoft website did not respond, please
try again later.

We called MS, 1-800-936-5700. We werre given the URL
http://register.microsoft.com/regsys/pic.asp, when we tried it the security
certificate was questionable, we accepted it, then we obtain an error message
anyway stating the page you are looking for no longer exists or may have been
moved.

The last microsoft product I registered had a registration page, called MS,
plugged in the numbers, and that was that. Can't believe they told me to
register on the web at a friends PC. Well I just tried it from my own home.
Doesn't work there either.

Please help. We'll be needing security updates soon. For sure.

 

[Malke]

My mom just purchased a new Compaq, and I'm trying to help her
register her
copy of Windows Home. Running the Microsoft XP registration wizard
results
in the error message that my phone line is disconnected. This message
appears before the modem does anything. The modem opens the phone
line and I can hear it dialling, but the wizard is in an error state.

(snippage)

I believe you are confusing registration with activation. Registration
is completely optional - I've never registered an operating system with
Microsoft. Activation is required, but since your mom bought a new
Compaq it was already activated by Compaq when she got it. So don't
worry about this.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Mike; Don't I need to register her copy in order for Windows Update to work?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My mom just purchased a new Compaq, and I'm trying to help her
register her copy of Windows Home. Running the Microsoft XP
registration wizard results in the error message that my phone line
is disconnected. This message appears before the modem does
anything. The modem opens the phone line and I can hear it dialling,
but the wizard is in an error state.

I believe you are confusing registration with activation.
Registration is completely optional - I've never registered an
operating system with Microsoft. Activation is required, but since
your mom bought a new Compaq it was already activated by Compaq when
she got it. So don't worry about this.

Mike; Don't I need to register her copy in order for Windows Update
to work?

As "Malke" said.. if what you are trying to do is REGISTER and not ACTIVATE
(If you see the word REGISTER and NOT the word ACTIVATE during this process)
then know this:

Activation is mandatory for most copies of Windows XP.
Registration is OPTIONAL for ALL copies of Windows XP.

You never need to register a single product from Microsoft to use it.
Activate - yes. Register - NO.

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry if I keep asking the same question but I would like to be clear,
you are stating that I do not need to Register XP Home in order to receive
future automatic updates? If that's the case them I'm all set. Though I
don't understand why registration doesn't work.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE]

That is correct. Everything works exactly the same if Windows is not
registered. It has to be activated, but if it's a Compaq then it's
pre-activated.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
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