Hi all, A slight puter problem. An older computer of mine recently got plagued with viruses. No Antivirus would get rid of them all, so I tried re-installing the OS with the OS CDs given with the computer. Problem is, it re-uses old files, that were, you guessed it, corrupted by the virii (viruses?). So I thought I'd be smart and take my official (yup, bought!) WinXP Pro CD, knowing it would format the HD. And it did. Deleted everything, installed XP Pro, great. But it asks for an activation code (ie the product key) ... and refuses to activate Windows because the key has already been used (well doh! I had to activate on my new puter!). So now I'm left wondering ... is it legal to do what I just did (install the same OS from the same CD on 2 of my computers?). If it is, I guess I can just call the Windows phone line and explain the situation, right? If it's illegal ... uh ... I guess I ain't gonna call Microsoft, am I? What should I do then? now use the recovery CD I had? Would be the same issue, wouldn't it? This activation thing is quite a hassle. Thanks in advance ...
Nope, you're not technically allowed to do what you did. The more pressing issue is that you cannot update Windows XP without activating it. You can't reinstall from scratch with the OS CDs that came with your computer??? Did the CDs that came with the computer have a valid product key, or is that key on a label on your computer somewhere? If so, re-install using THAT product key. I'm sure there's a way to just change the product key, but I don't know what it is off the top of my head.
If your PC came with a recovery CD, use that to restore the machine. The recovery CD usually has an OS image on it that will format your harddrive and restore it to the factory configuration
I did use the recovery CD ... but it did not reformat, and used corrupted files upon re-installing. So it is basically worthless. And I did give it several tries, doing everything I could to get rid of anything on the HD ... but no go. The pressing issue is that I have 15 days left before I can't use Windows anymore because I can't register it ... uhm. I have tried both the Windows Key and the PC key (the one on a sticker under the pc). This is definitely annoying... *cough* keygens? *cough*
You should be able to delete all the partitions and re-format the hard drive, IF you have a clean floppy with FDISK, FORMAT, and any OS. Then use your old CD to reinstall a clean version of your original OS.
Activate it over the phone. Explain your situation, give them the old key, they'll be able to activate it for you.
What you did (or tried to do) is in fact illegal. Each copy of WinXP for home use is licensed to be used for just one PC. Don't call MS, they'll sick their already overworked lawyers onto you. You have two choices - pirate, which I won't hold against you because I hate everything MS stands for, or dump MS altogether and go Linux/BSD, which I would strongly encourage.
Tell MS you got a new machine and your old one was thrown out but you still need a key to complete the install on your new comp, or you can pm me and I can email something to you which may help you out. There are also various other *keygens* floating around, but be careful, as some may contain trojans.
