Hi all, I have an odd one here: an XP Home ed. PC (a generic clone of "questionable" parentage) was brought to me that for "some time" has been requesting activation (my guess is since SP2 was downloaded). No matter what was done, the system didn't seem to "remember" that it had been activated. They had no valid product key and weren't inclined to re-install the applications, so I did an "in-place upgrade" with a new XP Home disc & product key. The system appears to successfully activate Windows (over my network/internet connection) but asks for it again upon re-boot. (If you answer 'No', the system restarts) I recall that there was a bug for MediaCenter PC that was fixed in SP2, but this isn't exactly like that. There are no error (or failure) messages. Anyone have any ideas? I've scanned for spyware/adware and found nothing unusual or likely to cause this. I expect that formatting and reinstalling will fix this, but the client wants to not do that if possible. Thanks in advance for any advice...
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XP Home activation prob?
- Thread starter mradmin
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gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
I have heard this associated to some new malware and winlogon.exe see what I wrote here thread779-957330 and see if it helps.
Greg Palmer
Free Software for Adminstrators
Greg Palmer
Free Software for Adminstrators
One of the most common early activation hacks was to essentially add a startup program to reset the activation counter.
By doing this, you would essentially defeat the trial period timer.
The hack had to be redone with Service Pack #1, and if you applied as you described a repair reinstall you removed both the hack, and with Service Pack #2, the Service Pack #1 workarounds.
This is the worst possible place to request a workaround for Service Pack 2 issues related to this activation hack.
This does not strike me as a malware issue.
You can test at least the authenticity of the machines license with the Windows Advantage Program (It will not disable the machine, and it is completely private.) See this extended discussion:
By doing this, you would essentially defeat the trial period timer.
The hack had to be redone with Service Pack #1, and if you applied as you described a repair reinstall you removed both the hack, and with Service Pack #2, the Service Pack #1 workarounds.
This is the worst possible place to request a workaround for Service Pack 2 issues related to this activation hack.
This does not strike me as a malware issue.
You can test at least the authenticity of the machines license with the Windows Advantage Program (It will not disable the machine, and it is completely private.) See this extended discussion:
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