[BC] Another computer problem

[Sid Schweiger]

"However, the software wants me to "register" or "activate" it with Microsoft. I configured the network and tried to activate it. The Microsoft server refused to activate it, claiming that it was an invalid operating system. I then tried the "telephone" activation procedure and that didn't work either. The "voice" claimed that the software was not "valid." The voice procedure no longer allows one to talk to a human. Does anybody know what to do? The software claims that I only have 10 days to activate the OS!

"I tried to discover what would happen if I didn't "activate" the software. Using the BIOS, I set the clock to next December and booted the machine. The sign-on logo appeared and would not me or the "administrator" to log on. Furthermore, to undo the problem I created by setting the clock in the future, required me to reinstall the OS all over again. This has made me so angry that I needed to lock the computer up in my shed, out-of-sight, or I would have smashed it to bits, absolutely losing control."

The OS activation routine in Windows, in part, checks the product key against a database of keys known to Microsoft to be stolen and/or used illegally.  Are you sure that XP disc wasn't used on another computer(s)?

Activation also checks hardware.  If the same XP disc is used on the same computer, with exactly the same hardware, and there's no other problem with illegal use of the disc, it should activate.  If the hardware has been altered to some unknown degree that only Microsoft knows, it won't activate and Microsoft will assume it's being used illegally.

This is why some people I know are sticking, come hell or high water, to Windows 2000 Professional, the last stable Windows OS that didn't require activation.

As for telephone activation:  Keep hitting zero until you get a human being.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040