So**ing M*c*os*ft!

[wafflycat]

Bah!

MrWC is fettling my pooter. New lots of all sorts of stuff - existing hard drive and a new hard drive added. Everything goes together ok. Switches on, PC boots up (safe mode) and asks for Windows to be registered. Which it already is and it's a legitimate copy (XP). But does this get recognised? No. Putting in the registration key does no good whatsoever.

Bah!

 

[ian turner]

You have just installed an already installed copy of XP on a new computer (computer that has had enough changed such that windows can no longer identify it as the original system) so it's refusing to validate. It's just MS trying to prevent theft.
You have to ring MS up.
This is standard procedure

 

[rh100]

Safe mode???? Sounds like lots of hardware has been changed and original XP installation is trying to boot up and deal with the new hardware - if this is the case then firstly it will struggle to run without correctly installed drivers ( a new motherboard would definitely screw it up), and then XP has recognized such a change of hardware as a potential attempt to have copied the system to another computer and therefore requests reactivation. I strongly recommend reinstalling from scratch, just backup your own files before doing so.

Or, if the install was fresh, then as Ian suggested maybe the key has already been used recently (they do time out after a while and can be reused), follow the procedure to phone microsoft and enter all the codes and replies etc, when asked select the option that 'motherboard was replaced' as the reason for the problem, it will unlock with the code they provide.

 

[Carwash]

This is standard procedure

Sad but true. But then it's the same for Linux, OS X, etc.
Oh wait no, that's a complete lie: it is just Microsoft who make you jump through these ridiculous hoops. <facepalm>

It's like that unofficial MS slogan says - "Windows: Yeah, it does that sometimes…"

 

[ian turner]

But then Linux is free and you can't upgrade your apple pc with different motherboards, graphics cards etc. so hardly a reasonable
comparison.

 

[2Loose]

You never needed to ring MS up until they made XP.
An anti-piracy device that typically hinders the legitimate user more than any software pirate (like most of them).

 

[rh100]

I heard that they have relaxed it a bit for Win7

To be fair though I've never had a problem unlocking via phone, it's always gone through

Although you didn't need to phone before the days of XP, don't forget home pc ownership exploded around the same time as XP came out (early noughties) so I guess it wasn't such an issue before. There must be a huge amount of system builders reusing the same keys for domestic pc's.

 

[rh100]

An anti-piracy device that typically hinders the legitimate user more than any software pirate (like most of them).

I agree with that though - nothings been released yet that couldn't be got around by somebody.

I saw a load of iffy win7 disks on a market, he wanted £20 each for them, even charging more for the different versions!

 

[hulver]

If too much hardware has changed Windows needs to "re-validate" it. You need to ring them up and get a new code.

 

[HJ]

But then Linux is free and you can't upgrade your apple pc with different motherboards, graphics cards etc. so hardly a reasonable
comparison.

Yep, why pay?

 

[ian turner]

Yep, why pay?

Because you don't build your own computers
Aside from which you don't save much building your own PC these days you just get to
optimize more.

 

[HJ]

I was talking software not hardware. OK so Window 7 came with this laptop, but seldom use it because Ubuntu is faster and more stable...

 

[ian turner]

I was talking software not hardware. OK so Window 7 came with this laptop, but seldom use it because Ubuntu is faster and more stable...

So you've therefore already paid for the OS

 

[hackbike 666]

Hmmm I've been using XP for so long I don't want to change.

Unless that is they actually invent an operating system that doesn't crash.