UNSUCCESSFUL WINDOWS XP HARD DRIVE UPGRADE/CLONE - LICENCE ERROR !

G

Guest

My laptop (Sharp PC-GP22W) runs the OEM activated Windows XP Home Edition. I am trying to upgrade my hard drive. Reinstalling every program after restoring the hard drive using the manufacturer provided recovery cd's is not an option. I don't have the time to reinstall every program I already have on this computer replicating all my settings. Downloading the SP1 and other updates would also consume considerable time (10+ hours - I have 56K dial up) leaving my unsecure computer exposed without the updates online. Plus I am afraid I will loose something, which exactly what happened last time I did the restore (after XP became corrupt) and I relied on the transfer settings wizard to save my settings and files...

I purchased a USB Hard Drive enclosure and I used Powerquest DriveImage 7 copy function to clone the hard drive. It appears to be a perfect copy, I checked all my files are there. When I insert the new drive, the laptop boots, but it is stuck on the pre-welcome blue screen displaying the Windows XP Logo. Once, I received the message that 'A problem is preventing windows from accurately checking the licence on this computer'. I followed the 2nd solution outlined in Knowledge base article #306081, but after that the booting process is stuck on the blue screen and every 3 minutes an emply message box pops up. I repeated the cloning process, but I am did not even receive the license messsage, just the blue screen. I tried a number of times the clone - erasing the virtual memory file, applying the suggested solution before boot, etc.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306081

The drives are identical in size, but one is faster. The old drive works good, error checking reveals no problems, and I boot into Windows without trouble. The new drive is also good, otherwise, I could not even copy my files to it. DriveImage uses bit-by-bit copy - it also copies those registry files that were in use (I checked).

According the product activation guidelines, I am entitled to upgrade components in my computer. A couple months ago I upgraded the memory. I believe that I should be able to upgrade my hard drive in this fashion legally. Please let me know, how to circuimvent this error legally, if posibble. I am sure that if I had an illegal copy of Windows (corporate edition ?), I would not have this problem. But as I am properly licenced as Windows XP came with my laptop, I would prefer to keep my licenced status. I would also galdly go through product activation, but the boot process does not get there.
 
C

Carey Frisch [MVP]

"I am sure that if I had an illegal copy of Windows (corporate edition ?), I would not have this problem."

You would have an even bigger problem.....becoming a thief
and having no possibility to install any Windows XP Service Packs!

Contact Sharp support and ask them if their OEM version of Windows XP
can be installed on a different hard drive. Many preinstalled versions of
Windows XP can only be used on the original hard drive or an exact model
duplicate.

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

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

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


|
| My laptop (Sharp PC-GP22W) runs the OEM activated Windows XP Home Edition. I am trying to upgrade my hard
drive. Reinstalling every program after restoring the hard drive using the manufacturer provided recovery
cd's is not an option. I don't have the time to reinstall every program I already have on this computer
replicating all my settings. Downloading the SP1 and other updates would also consume considerable time (10+
hours - I have 56K dial up) leaving my unsecure computer exposed without the updates online. Plus I am afraid
I will loose something, which exactly what happened last time I did the restore (after XP became corrupt) and
I relied on the transfer settings wizard to save my settings and files...
|
| I purchased a USB Hard Drive enclosure and I used Powerquest DriveImage 7 copy function to clone the hard
drive. It appears to be a perfect copy, I checked all my files are there. When I insert the new drive, the
laptop boots, but it is stuck on the pre-welcome blue screen displaying the Windows XP Logo. Once, I received
the message that 'A problem is preventing windows from accurately checking the licence on this computer'. I
followed the 2nd solution outlined in Knowledge base article #306081, but after that the booting process is
stuck on the blue screen and every 3 minutes an emply message box pops up. I repeated the cloning process,
but I am did not even receive the license messsage, just the blue screen. I tried a number of times the
clone - erasing the virtual memory file, applying the suggested solution before boot, etc.
|
| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306081
|
| The drives are identical in size, but one is faster. The old drive works good, error checking reveals no
problems, and I boot into Windows without trouble. The new drive is also good, otherwise, I could not even
copy my files to it. DriveImage uses bit-by-bit copy - it also copies those registry files that were in use
(I checked).
|
| According the product activation guidelines, I am entitled to upgrade components in my computer. A couple
months ago I upgraded the memory. I believe that I should be able to upgrade my hard drive in this fashion
legally. Please let me know, how to circuimvent this error legally, if posibble. I am sure that if I had an
illegal copy of Windows (corporate edition ?), I would not have this problem. But as I am properly licenced
as Windows XP came with my laptop, I would prefer to keep my licenced status. I would also galdly go through
product activation, but the boot process does not get there.
 
S

Star Fleet Admiral Q

There's no such thing a "Corporate Edition" - There's OEM, Retail or
Volume License.
Your problem is most likely the Power Quest did too good of a copy -
including the Harddrive Serial Number and Volume Label. This is the
same problem many "Corporations" experience trying to use "sysprep"
with and OEM version of XP. I can't give you an answer, but would
point you to researching OEM and sysprep on the MS Knowledge Base or
Google.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your service
--------------------------------------------------------
nk4002r said:
My laptop (Sharp PC-GP22W) runs the OEM activated Windows XP Home
Edition. I am trying to upgrade my hard drive. Reinstalling every
program after restoring the hard drive using the manufacturer provided
recovery cd's is not an option. I don't have the time to reinstall
every program I already have on this computer replicating all my
settings. Downloading the SP1 and other updates would also consume
considerable time (10+ hours - I have 56K dial up) leaving my unsecure
computer exposed without the updates online. Plus I am afraid I will
loose something, which exactly what happened last time I did the
restore (after XP became corrupt) and I relied on the transfer
settings wizard to save my settings and files...
I purchased a USB Hard Drive enclosure and I used Powerquest
DriveImage 7 copy function to clone the hard drive. It appears to be
a perfect copy, I checked all my files are there. When I insert the
new drive, the laptop boots, but it is stuck on the pre-welcome blue
screen displaying the Windows XP Logo. Once, I received the message
that 'A problem is preventing windows from accurately checking the
licence on this computer'. I followed the 2nd solution outlined in
Knowledge base article #306081, but after that the booting process is
stuck on the blue screen and every 3 minutes an emply message box pops
up. I repeated the cloning process, but I am did not even receive the
license messsage, just the blue screen. I tried a number of times the
clone - erasing the virtual memory file, applying the suggested
solution before boot, etc.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306081

The drives are identical in size, but one is faster. The old drive
works good, error checking reveals no problems, and I boot into
Windows without trouble. The new drive is also good, otherwise, I
could not even copy my files to it. DriveImage uses bit-by-bit copy -
it also copies those registry files that were in use (I checked).
According the product activation guidelines, I am entitled to
upgrade components in my computer. A couple months ago I upgraded the
memory. I believe that I should be able to upgrade my hard drive in
this fashion legally. Please let me know, how to circuimvent this
error legally, if posibble. I am sure that if I had an illegal copy of
Windows (corporate edition ?), I would not have this problem. But as
I am properly licenced as Windows XP came with my laptop, I would
prefer to keep my licenced status. I would also galdly go through
product activation, but the boot process does not get there.
 

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