Hi there.. A friend of mine just inherited a laptop from a relative in america.. We live in the uk! I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem but just thought i should mention it.. Well she is having lots of problems with internet explorer and if i try to update it for her i get a windows validation error.. Something along the lines of the key on this windows was not assigned by microsoft and you may be a victim of software counterfeiting.. So it turns out i can not download or update anything that is a genuine microsoft product.. Which is obviously causing problems. We can get onto the internet using mozilla but when she uses her msm messenger she cannot access her emails.. Does anyone know a possible solution? Any advice would be much appreciated.. I am waiting for email support from microsoft, the only other option i can see is by purchasing a valid key which is about 95 pounds.. Many thanks, Charlie.
Im not sure, no. The laptop was inherited from my friends late mother-in-law in america.. Thats all i know.. If that was the case would she now have to purchase her own one? Is that the only solution? Thanks for your help! Charlie.
Did you get the genuine Windows install disk? With the hologram on it? If you did, you'll be in a stronger position. I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that when you purchase a copy of Windows it is only valid for one machine at a time. Maybe you being in a different country might be making a difference. If your friend just has the machine and no install disk she may well have to fork out for a valid key.
Ok then! I don't think she did get a disk. I would like to know if just being in a different country could be causing this though, so if anyone knows.. Thanks for your help.. Charlie.
The country should not be the problem, since computer - especially laptops - should be able to be used all around the world. In case of a laptop, the Windows licence is usually glued on the backside of it. If the licence is for an older version of Windows that is installed (say, the sticker says it's for Windows 98 SE and you have Windows XP) then you need the abovementioned CD case / manual with the hologram on it.
that appears to be a black market xp that is on that laptop tho can be still legit version & the wga is screwed up making the legit version appear to be blackmarket. there is a fix for that tho depends on which way you want to do that.
Right i just called her and she said there is the sticker on the back saying xp home edition and a bar code with a product key.. with the little genuine sticker.. (i have a laptop with the same sticker and mine is genuine..) Also apparently the laptop was bought from a legit shop.. Does anyone know what is the next step? Does she just contact microsoft? Also she is having problems opening up her internet browser's (ie and firefox) intermittently.. Sometimes they work and sometimes they dont, yet she can always sign into live msn which means her internet is always working fine.. Would this problem be a result her validation?? Many thanks, Charlie.
In some countries Microsoft has decided to block some features of Windows if it does not pass validation/is not activated properly, but still Firefox should work ok. If the licence indeed is for Windows XP Home, and the Home version (not Pro) is installed on the laptop, there should be no problems. I suggest contacting Microsoft now that you clearly own a legitimate licence of Windows XP. Windows validation is known to have many bugs and provide false positives, most likely it has mistaken in this case.
We deal with this all the time at work. What you can do is check and see if the copy is activated. Go to start, run and type "oobe/msoobe /a" without the "s . It will probably say invalid product key ( if it has already been activated ) then you choose the telephone option. You will be generated a new installation ID which is a long number broken up into 9 groups of 6. You call the 888 number and read off the installation ID, they will read you back a new installation ID and will reactivate your copy of windows.
Barricade, hi. Tried that out. All i got was a window that said windows is activated.. click ok to exit! No other options.. She took it to our local computer shop in the end and they fixed it for her.. Said that the key on computer was different to the one on her hollogram sticker on the back.. Thanks to everyone who had helped! Chat soon. Charlie..
