validation

[clauded]

I have been working laptop mostly cause I like working on them,did anyone else find out that it is almost impossible to validate vista oem and I mean and I mean legit install when you have to reinstall on a new hdd,it always says that it is not valid and tells you to buy another windows,some of these laptop are about 3 years oldand they work fine once you do a good repair job,maybe they want us to do the unthinkable and "'fix them up"" so they work?i don`t like doing this but Microsoft are acting like pirates themselves so I don`t see poor people paying for something they already paid for,they don`t do it with win7 only takes about 10 minutes and it is validated.how do you guys cope with this? any way out? I would like to hear from you techs that work on laptop,

[SpywareDr]

I call the Microsoft 1-800 number that pops up on the screen and follow the automated voice prompts. Takes maybe five minutes.

[Steve R Jones]

Laptops ship with a "generic" key code that Can Not be reused. You must use the key code on the sticker.

Many laptops come with the OS reinstall on another partition that doesn't need to be validated.

I've never had a problem with a reinstall.

[Niclo Iste]

Unless you are using the media supplied by the vendor for that specific series laptop the serial/cd key on the bottom of the laptop will not work with other media. You have two choices, buy replacement media from the laptop vendor, or sell them a new copy of Windows.

Examples of what the key will only work with:

Dell Laptop = Must use Dell Windows disk for that series laptop
HP Laptop = In several cases I've encountered the CD for that specific model laptop.
HP Laptop = Recovery partition of the laptop

[CeeBee]

I've had an issue with an XP install not that long ago.
Being for someone else, I tried the MS way, but the phone system wouldn't take the code from the sticker (Dell OEM, had not been used for years, person needed some old data from it and after the forced updates it came up with the not genuine message).
MS was totally unwilling to cooperate claiming it was out of support and asking $99 for troubleshooting. After 2 hours with different levels of "support" I had no choice but apply a crack and be done with it.

If MS is unwilling to help use a loader. I had to do it for my licensed virtual machine which would deactivate after every freakin' system change and I had to actually speak each time to a MS rep to get a new activation...

[SpywareDr]

... but the phone system wouldn't take the code from the sticker ...

The "sticker code" won't work at all.

Here in the US you:

1. Call the 888-571-2048 or 716-871-2929 phone number that's on the Windows Activation screen.
   
   
2. Provide the customer service representative the long "installation ID" (that's on that same screen).
   
   
3. Type in the "confirmation ID" that the customer service representative then gives you, into the boxes labeled A thru G.
   
   
4. That's it, click the [Next] button.

[slgrieb]

The "sticker code" won't work at all.

Here in the US you:

1. Call the 888-571-2048 or 716-871-2929 phone number that's on the Windows Activation screen.
   
   
2. Provide the customer service representative the long "installation ID" (that's on that same screen).
   
   
3. Type in the "confirmation ID" that the customer service representative then gives you, into the boxes labeled A thru G.
   
   
4. That's it, click the [Next] button.

Actually MS isn't that helpful with activating OEM versions of Windows, and XP in particular. Niclo and CeeBee are spot on the money. Been there and done that myself several times recently with HP, Emachine, Dell, etc. Contrary to what Steve Jones has experienced, a failing drive, a drive with seriously corrupted data, or simply a dead drive will render that nice little factory restore partition totally useless. So, in the end, you can definitely hit a dead end with MS approved tools. In some cases, I've even had systems that seemed to run perfectly fine that wouldn't let me use the OEM tools to build a set of System Recovery DVDs.

Now, as a System Builder, Microsoft's licensing terms expressly prohibit me from implementing a hard drive based system recovery utility, but I'm required to provide the customer with an installation disk for Windows; which works every time, any time, all the time.

[SpywareDr]

Actually MS isn't that helpful with activating OEM versions of Windows, and XP in particular.

I really hate to say this but, I'm afraid that's the exact opposite of my experience. I don't believe we've ever had a phone-in XP activation fail. Windows 7 once, yes, but not XP.

[slgrieb]

I really hate to say this but, I'm afraid that's the exact opposite of my experience. I don't believe we've ever had a phone-in XP activation fail. Windows 7 once, yes, but not XP.

Hey! No reason to be apologetic; everybody has different experiences. I've had MS flat out refuse to re-activate several copies of XP. Conventional wisdom holds that these are keys that have been widely pirated, but I'm not sure that's the case. But whether MS will reactivate a key is entirely at their discretion. If you haven't hit any of these snags yet, you will sooner or later.

[SpywareDr]

Guess we should consider ourselves lucky then eh? Made it through over a decade of re-validating XP via phone with nary a significant problem ... that we can remember anyway.

[clauded]

there is no problem if you use he restore disk or partition,try it installing from a different disk and then come back and tell me your experience,in xp or vista you don`t even get the phone number for validating by phone,now it is different in win 7,i install using my special installation disk and then validate and it works like a charm,the thing with laptop is customer never have restore disk and the two things that break is the hard disk or the screen and I think the ms just don`t want to see anything working with these old os, and I think it isn`t fair for those people,they are mostly student or old people,the rest of the people don`t spend too much money on old machine,if it breaks they just go out and buy new machines with win8,by the waay I am talking of fixing lots of laptop thank you all for your sharing your experience with me,Claude

[SpywareDr]

To help eliminate the possibility of installing an infected Operating System, we install from original Microsoft CD/DVDs.

[slgrieb]

Guess we should consider ourselves lucky then eh? Made it through over a decade of re-validating XP via phone with nary a significant problem ... that we can remember anyway.

From your post, I gather that you work in a corporate environment(?). I don't. As a small business owner, I am blessed with all manner of weirdness. So, we may be comparing apples and oranges here.

I had to do two phone activations this past week which required speaking to a rep, since the automated system wouldn't accept my codes. The first time involved re-activating a copy of Vista Ultimate, and it was a little frustrating because I had to do the whole 20 questions thing, "Yes, it's only installed on one machine. Yes, it's a re-installation. Yep, client blew up a hard drive..." and the rep kept getting the code wrong. I always feel sorry for the Indian guys doing support, because I speak Texan, not standard English, and I know that frequently, they can't understand me. I work really hard at not using words like "y'all" or "Bubba" but I know the accent is still difficult for them. So, we got through it, and I had only thrown my pen across the client's office a couple of times, and while the receptionist was eyeing the door, she never actually made a run for it.

The second time, I had to reactivate my Action Pack Office 2003 on a new drive. Generally, I like clean installs better than restoring a full backup. This time around, the rep simply had me read my installation code, and immediately sent me to the automated system for an activation code with no questions asked. Wow! That's a memory I'll treasure for life!

[clauded]

you know mister spyware i don`t believe you know much about fixing pcyour answert give you away so don`t act as if you were god`s gift to the pc fixers of this world;Claude

[SpywareDr]

Know what you mean about the drawl. Raised in Houston, and proud of it!


If God gives gifts to "pc fixers", where's mine?