Oh what a freak'n mess!

Picked up a client's Windows XP computer yesterday afternoon. Internet Exploder wouldn't work anymore - just exited with the usual "Send to Microsoft?" message box.

Nothing much worked to revive it - so Windows XP repair install.

Now be aware: this machine (a Compaq) has a legitimate XP Pro license, sticker on the side, and I know it's legit because I bought it with several others from Tech Data, one of the largest national distributors. It had been installed for more than a year, activated and working fine.

Did the repair install and got "This Windows must be activated before you can log in". OK, activate. Activation was successful.

On log-in "This Windows must be activated before you can log in". OK, activate again. "Windows is already activated".

OK, didn't want to, but do a fresh install. Same problem. Activation successful (actually activation was successful about a dozen times, some by I'net, some by a phone call to the robot). After many hours of research on the Internet and trying a dozen purported cures, no joy. Installed fresh on a naked disk - still same problem.

So - I found there's a back door into Windows Explorer using the Windows-U key from the activation window to bring up Microsoft Narrator (accessibility tool). Narrator
has a link to Microsoft's Web site that loads Internet Explorer. From there I could download Microsoft's Key Update Tool (keyUpdateTool_emu) to the desktop.

Ran that (after activation on the legitimate key) and changed the key to a different XP Pro key (one belonging to a friend/competitor of the client, as it were).

Worked. Got logged in. All updates and Genuine Advantage functions accepted this fix just fine. About 8 hours and considerable lost sleep.

Another useful thing I found is that if locked out by Activation, you can still get in booting "Safe Mode to Command Prompt" to run regedit and other important functions.

What a zoo!

Post #328,406 by Andrew Grygus 6/22/10 5:21:10 PM Reply	Oh what a freak'n mess! Picked up a client's Windows XP computer yesterday afternoon. Internet Exploder wouldn't work anymore - just exited with the usual "Send to Microsoft?" message box. Nothing much worked to revive it - so Windows XP repair install. Now be aware: this machine (a Compaq) has a legitimate XP Pro license, sticker on the side, and I know it's legit because I bought it with several others from Tech Data, one of the largest national distributors. It had been installed for more than a year, activated and working fine. Did the repair install and got "This Windows must be activated before you can log in". OK, activate. Activation was successful. On log-in "This Windows must be activated before you can log in". OK, activate again. "Windows is already activated". OK, didn't want to, but do a fresh install. Same problem. Activation successful (actually activation was successful about a dozen times, some by I'net, some by a phone call to the robot). After many hours of research on the Internet and trying a dozen purported cures, no joy. Installed fresh on a naked disk - still same problem. So - I found there's a back door into Windows Explorer using the Windows-U key from the activation window to bring up Microsoft Narrator (accessibility tool). Narrator has a link to Microsoft's Web site that loads Internet Explorer. From there I could download Microsoft's Key Update Tool (keyUpdateTool_emu) to the desktop. Ran that (after activation on the legitimate key) and changed the key to a different XP Pro key (one belonging to a friend/competitor of the client, as it were). Worked. Got logged in. All updates and Genuine Advantage functions accepted this fix just fine. About 8 hours and considerable lost sleep. Another useful thing I found is that if locked out by Activation, you can still get in booting "Safe Mode to Command Prompt" to run regedit and other important functions. What a zoo!
Post #328,423 by static 6/22/10 8:55:50 PM Reply	You could start a blog. 'Why Windows is (still) making so much money for Microsoft'. :-) Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #328,428 by pwhysall 6/23/10 1:29:15 AM Reply	I did the "duplicate but inaccessible profile directories".. ..dance the other day. Jo's friend's laptop. Windows XP Home. Hours and hours. Joy.
Post #328,442 by jake123 6/23/10 10:22:23 AM Reply	I have pretty much stopped helping people with that crap outside a very small list. Usually my response nowadays to people with windows fuckedupedness is "Get Ubuntu". The three or four who've taken me up on it love it... it Just Works.
Post #328,499 by static 6/23/10 9:47:07 PM Reply	Ditto likewise. I've annoyed several people by my refusal to help their Windows problems. They usually shut up when I point out I refuse to even be paid for it, but they still don't understand it. At work, we acquired a server from an external party for part of our application. The existing app is PHP and Java, sitting on Linux. This box is .NET on a Windows box. Their developers had trouble understanding that we had no interest in its internals. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.

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