Win XP Product Activation has screwed up my installation.

[Guest]

I installed a new graphics card and hard drive, when I booted the machine,
the damn Product Activation kicked in.

I couldnt do the Product Activation online, because my configuration
settings hadnt loaded, so I called the number provided and tried enter the 72
digit Product Activation Key through my ttelephone keypad.... this didnt work
either. It wouldnt recognise the 4 set of numbers.
I then managed to get through to Product Activation support who were able to
give me a Product Activation Code.

However when I logged in I found my system had rolled back to a fresh
install, consequently Ive lost everything which Ive installed over the last
couple months.
How do I resolve this cockup?

 

[Rock]

I installed a new graphics card and hard drive, when I booted the machine,
the damn Product Activation kicked in.

I couldnt do the Product Activation online, because my configuration
settings hadnt loaded, so I called the number provided and tried enter the 72
digit Product Activation Key through my ttelephone keypad.... this didnt work
either. It wouldnt recognise the 4 set of numbers.
I then managed to get through to Product Activation support who were able to
give me a Product Activation Code.

However when I logged in I found my system had rolled back to a fresh
install, consequently Ive lost everything which Ive installed over the last
couple months.
How do I resolve this cockup?

You're post is a bit unclear. What do you mean by the system "rolled
back to a fresh install"?

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Have you had a look at the following article:

"Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP"
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

Did you replace just those two devices?

If you can't find the programs, you'll have to reinstall them.

--


Will Denny
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Guest]

You're post is a bit unclear. What do you mean by the system "rolled
back to a fresh install"?

I mean the XP looks like it has been freshly installed.
All my drivers are gone, its detecting all the hardware as new.
All networking and internet configuration gone.
All my utilites, programs and games are gone.
Even the SP2 service pack for windows XP has disappeared.

Its going to be a long time to get everything installed and configured
properly again.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

When you replaced the hard drive, did you ghost over the original
installation or create a new one? You need to tell us exactly what steps you
took to arrive where you are at.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

I did not replace my boot disk.
I did not ghost over my boot disk.
I did not try creating a new disk.
I made no changes to the software or the C:\ AT ALL!!!
I simply added a new hard drive.

When setting up my machine months ago, I added a second hard drive that had
some info on it that I wanted copied.
Since the installation I have also slaved in other disks to retrieve large
databases from them.

Last week I installed a new graphics card and things were great.
Last night I took out my slaved drive and replaced it with a new larger disk.
When I booted my machine, it booted into the WinXP SP1 version I have
previously mentioned. It has been rolled back to a completely fresh install
on the C:\
Everything but the OS is gone from the C:\
Even the password I set for Administrator is gone.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

WinXP doesn't just "roll back" and delete everything that was previously
installed and existed on the system. It's simply not possible. Even a repair
installation or parallel installation leaves existing program and data files
"as is". I would suspect somehow that you are not booting the installation
that you think you are, but rather another one. Perhaps the original system
files (those used to initiate loading the system, not the actual
installation files) were on the slave drive that you removed - have you
tried putting it back to see what happens?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

I AM A MORON!!!

Rick, you're right.
When I was cabling up the drives I used the wrong one.

My apologies.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

No problem. It would only be obvious to someone who has done something
similar. So, unless we're both morons......<g>

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Steve N.]

I AM A MORON!!!

Rick, you're right.
When I was cabling up the drives I used the wrong one.

My apologies.

Making mistakes doesn't make you a moron. You learned something and
morons can't do that.

Steve N.

 

[Steve N.]

Hi,

WinXP doesn't just "roll back" and delete everything that was previously
installed and existed on the system. It's simply not possible. Even a repair
installation or parallel installation leaves existing program and data files
"as is". I would suspect somehow that you are not booting the installation
that you think you are, but rather another one. Perhaps the original system
files (those used to initiate loading the system, not the actual
installation files) were on the slave drive that you removed - have you
tried putting it back to see what happens?

Good catch Rick!

Steve N.