Activated copy of XP won't boot until I Activate it!

[MorseLady]

My main machine runs XP Home from OEM instal and has rescue CDs. I activated it last time I did a clean instal a couple of months ago and I am very sure of this but today when I went to boot it got to the bit just before the desktop and a dialogue box said I could not log on until I activated Windows but when after a few attempts I clicked yes in frustration it would not dial in but it is connected to the phone line. I tried with it both on and off the network.

I am now having to use the ME partition on this second machine because XP on here won't dial up, on or off the network even with the phone line plugged directly in the back but it does on ME strangely enough.

Not the first time my copy of ME has saved me, I often wonder about XP amd I am sure the OEM backup CDs on my main machine are corrupt and I have thought about buying XP Pro or W2000 for that machine.

[NooNoo]

Call microsoft activation - the number they give you on the screen. They are jolly helpful - I have phoned them twice over similar problems with customers machines... once we solved the problem, the other (after ramping it up through various levels of tech support) we decided to kill the partition and reinstall.

[Ya_know]

This article might serve a purpose for future:

Windows XP Prompts You to Re-activate After You Restore Your Computer

[MorseLady]

This article might serve a purpose for future:

Windows XP Prompts You to Re-activate After You Restore Your Computer

Soyrr I did noty put it very well because I bought a large room divisder today and the whole room is in a muddle and I burned the dinner and I am stressed so am going to shut down the computers before I scream.

What I said was I already activated XP two or more months ago and it has been running OK but today it won't boot because it asks me for activation but it won't dial to get to MS and anyway even if I rang them how do I put the number in?

I havew had, so muchy tyrouble with this PC Worll;d install I am going to trash it and buy XP Pro.

I must close down now I am getting into compouter rage

[Ya_know]

You could always reset the clock in the bios (resetting it to the date when you installed, or no more than 15 days after), then boot to and see if XP will boot up.

The idea of the article, is that once you activate, copy the post activated Wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak files, then should you ever need to you can copy these back if it prompts you for activation. This can happen if ever you've repaired, restored, or reinstalled the OS, and don't want to go to the trouble of activating it again...

As far as contacting MS, they will give you assistance if you are not sure how enter the code they give you…although, being OEM they may not offer much more than a few minutes of guidance, then they will refer you to the OEM vendor….

[MorseLady]

I booted to Safe Mode and tried system restore, no good, so I booted to safe mode again and checked that everything was backed up to my data drive then I did a non destructive system recovery from the OEM Vendor disk, no good, still got what I now suspect is a Denial of Service. That computer has been behaving strangely recently, freezing and crashing even after I took SP1 and Norton Internet Security off because I thought one or both was the reason. I have also recently installed a network and KVM switch but having said that, this computer I am using now is OK on both the XP and ME partitions and it is connected to the KVM and XP has SP1 installed.

Normally when I check my ports at the Steve Gibson site with just the XP firewall, all ports are at stealth. However, for the past couple of days my FTP port has been open which is why I think my problem may be a Denial of Service caused by a trojan.

I am therefore going to format and do a clean install, possibly go to the computer store and buy a retail copy of XP Pro. I dislike OEM instals anyway and that one has given me a lot of problems. The retail version I am running on this machine is much better and is as fast despite the processor being one third of what I have on my other machine and only a quarter of the memory.

I will disconnect the computer from the network and the KVM box before I work on it.

[NooNoo]

Just a thought.... you have two windows xp cds? Rather than buying a new copy.... try the other cd with the cd key for the machine in question.

[MorseLady]

Just a thought.... you have two windows xp cds? Rather than buying a new copy.... try the other cd with the cd key for the machine in question.

One CD is the OEM custom install recovery disk that came with the machine that won't boot and has mandatory applications bundled and the second and retail CD has been activated on this PC for about two years so I can't use it on any other PC. I don't want to instal it and have to reinstal it every 30 days as I am just beginning to get tired of all that and I have big problems at home and not as much time as I had for hobbies.

Why do Microsoft make things so complicated? Good mind to put my old Windows 98 and trash all the XP rubbish.

Not doing anything today, got a migraine and feel really irritable.

[NooNoo]

Rats, you can't mix oem and retail cd keys

[MorseLady]

I was right when I said it was a Denial of Service - I have Welchia and Blaster on the problem computer, despite running Norton AntiVirus and blocking attachments in my email.

I am using it now, I finally managed to get it to dial up to Activate by taking the network cable out. Once I had dialed up I got a message that my Key was invalid and to look for the sticker on my computer and type in the key. This I did and Activation worked but then I got two alerts from Norton to tell me I have Welchia and

REBOOT - at that point I had a dialogue box telling me the computer was closing down because of failure of RPC and I just had time to send what I had written then it rebooted. To continue, Norton cannot repair the viruses so I think format is the safest thing now and hope my data drive is not affected. I will change over to the other machine and go to Symantec on the ME partition as the XP partition is a bit funny and I cannot close my FTP port. I have had to disable the network because it weas causing all sorts of problems and I have also put the KVM away. I will use the computers as - OH BOY I AM GETTING NASTY POPUPS NOW - help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Closing down machine - thank God I have a copy of something NOT XP running!

[geoscomp]

before you reformat, use something not running xp, download this removal tool and follow the instructions on the link..I find it best to run the tool in safe mode with no network capabilities:



http://securityresponse.symantec.com...chnicaldetails

[MorseLady]

[QUOTE=geoscomp]before you reformat, use something not running xp, download this removal tool and follow the instructions on the link..I find it best to run the tool in safe mode with no network capabilities:


Immediately after I posted my message last night I remembered the Microsoft patch which I had already installed when it became available but I remembered that when I took SP1 off I was given a list of KB files that might not work and I think the patch must have been one of them.

I had already disabled the network and taken out the cables and also the KVM. I was able to download and instal the patch on this machine last night praying all the time it would not reboot before the download was complete, I then ran a virus scan and nothing was found, the patch even got rid of Welchia as well as Blaster. I will run the Symantec patch to make sure even though things look OK aand thanks for the link Geoscomp.

I then checked my ports at Gibson with the XP Firewall enabled and the FTP port which had been open is at stealth like all the others.

I know the mistakes I made to cause my computers and network to become vulnerable and I can learn from this. Things like uninstalling SP1 without running Windows Update and visiting MS Technet, and Symantec and Gibson to run checks after uninstall. Some of you will say why uninstall SP1? I did not like it and I am running this machine no SP1 and the copy on my dual boot machine with SP1 to compare the effects it has.

I need to re-assess my knowledge of Network Security before I attempt to run a Home Network again. I have enough books and sample exams here and I completed a network course so no excuse! I should have investigated things which were worrying me like the XP Firewall option greying out on the client computer and whether the edge computer was really doing its job protecting my network. I am also unhappy about how the ICS setup went and the fact that my ME partition behaved much better on the network than my XP one on the client computer. I think I may have been to hasty in creating shares too. I am lucky my other machine seems unaffected.

I also need to recognise that when I am tired and stressed and suffering from frequent migraines is not the time to try new things especially something like networking which, if not done properly, can compromise computers involved. To compound matters, I was actually working on my computer and rearranging my living room after buying a very large wall unit for a bargain thirty quid in a Charity Shop, a job which took all weekend on and off and involved moving over 100 books and about 500 cassette tapes, a five unit hi-fi separates system and reconfiguring the access to power points for the hi-fi, ham radio and computer equipment.

Mea Culpa