XP Validation failed, now machine is slow....

[GlenJohnson]

I bought what I thought was a valid copy of XP off of ebay, and when I installed it on a machine of mine, I kept getting the message asking me to validate the copy of xp. When I did, it told me it failed, and now my machine is slower than mollases. Any ideas what I can do? Google hasn't helped at all. Thanks.

if pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?

 

[DTSMAN]

Use the phone option if it does not validate over the internet and see if that works. Still, that shouldn't cause slow issues.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[BadBigBen]

Glen, the only thing left for you to do is to contact MS over the phone, and explain to them what happened...

Most likely they will give you a new KEY and activate it also...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

I never hear of a "fail validation and we'll slow down your computer" feature. It must be something else.

It's probably a waste of time to troubleshoot though because you have a bootleg copy of XP.

 

[Freestone]

Perhaps the system became infected with some malware or virus or some such in between the time connecting to the Internet and actually performing the validation, thus causing the slowness and just perhaps the validation failure.

 

[linney]

You will probably have to sort the validation issue out with Microsoft.

This mentions a validation tool that you can run, and some files that you can register.

Problems with XP Validation: Your copy is invalid
thread779-1300928

If the slowness is not related to validation, try a few of these.

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Explorer.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Select both boxes.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

 

[xwb]

Could it be some program is trying very hard to connect to the internet and failing in the process. Have you switched off all updates? If you don't, it automatically downloads updates in background. Why not just leave it on for a day and see how it responds the next day.

 

[GlenJohnson]

Little more info, PC looses it's background everytime I turn the machine on. I can reset the background, but once it's turned off, there it goes. I haven't been back to the machine yet to try your suggestions, but I'm hoping to soon. (Out of town.) Thanks for the help.

if pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?

 

[goombawaho]

The best advice would to A) fix the licensing issue and get a valid key code and THEN B) reload XP from scratch. Two problems solved. If you can't get an XP license for a reasonable price, move on to Windows 7.