Windows XP Reinstallation

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Chaps, please forgive the bone question but I'm stuck. I've used search and Google but I can't spot the anwer; but I may just be too thick.

A dear friend is trying to reinstall Windows XP on her computer. She puts in the correct product code, as per the sticky label on the computer, but it won't produce an activation code; just a line of dots. So it accepts the product code but won't show the activation code that the Microsoft site want to provide the activation key.

Help! please.

[Capt Claret]

The activation key is usually on the software, not the computer. Is the dear friend using the correct activation key?

[P.Pilcher]

Years ago, I read a tip which has worked well for me for numerous re-installations of XP: Use the telephone system!
When you operate the "validate" option, you are asked whether you want to validate over t'internet, by telephone or in some other way. Opt for telephone validation. This should give you a freephone 0800 telephone number to an automated Microshaft validation computer. By this time your copy of XP will have generated a validation code. Enter this when the telephone call is answered. It will invariably claim that your copy is illegal and tell you what to do. Unless it tells you to push the button on your screen to generate a new validation code, ignore it and push the button anyway. This will now request the serial number of your copy of XP from the label on your computer case. Enter this and a new authorisation code will be generated. Enter this via your telephone keypad and you should be told that your copy is valid and the required authorisation code will be given to you. (notice I said "should"!)

P.P.

[parabellum]

Agree with P. Pilcher re using the 'phone method. Usually answer '1' will get you to a point where the lady computer will read you 42 letters and numbers, in groups of six, which you then feed in and then you can activate.

Use the 'phone option, only press key '1'

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Capt Claret. That's an interesting point. The genuine XP installation disk was acquired with the computer. The only product key visible is that stuck on the computer. If the software is only expecting a key that is unique to itself, how do we read it off the disk please?

P.Pilcher. That is the route being taken to getting the activation code. Unfortunately, the number we need to enter via the telephone is not showing. Having gone through the process of entering the product key (off the computer label) into the "form" on the activation wizad, moving to the next screen only shows a row of dots where the generated validation code should be. There are no error messages nor "invalid product key" warnings.

On a previous attempt to reinstal XP, we got as far as (after numerous attempts) to see a validation code that was then used to receive, by telephone, an activation code. When entering Windows, it warned that the poduct must be activated. On going through the insertion of the activation code again, a message saying that the system was already activated; "click OK to exit". On pressing OK, it went straight back to the log in page we started with. :{

Many thanks to all of you for your replies. If you have any further thoughts, I (we) would be very grateful.

[green granite]

Not certain why you need an "activation code", if the system has installed ok it should work for 30 days without activation, then just do this:

To activate Windows XP by using an Internet connection, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Activate Windows.

Or, click the Windows Activation icon in the notification area.
2. Click Yes, let's activate Windows over the Internet now.
3. Click Read the Windows Product Activation Privacy Statement, click Back, and then click Next.
4. Use one of the following methods:
* If you want to register and activate Windows at the same time, click Yes, I want to register and activate Windows at the same time, click Read the Windows Registration Privacy Statement, click Back, click Next, type your contact information in the appropriate boxes in the registration form, and then click Next. An asterisk (*) appears next to required information.
* If you only want to activate Windows, click No, I don't want to register now; let's just activate Windows, and then click Next.
The wizard establishes a connection with an activation server, and then processes the activation request.
5. When activation is completed and you receive the following message, click OK:
You have successfully activated your copy of Windows.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

green granite. That seems a very good idea but she has this bee in her bonnet about activating it straight away. I will try to sell that to her.

Out of interest, the process you describe is nearly identical to the one being used. Her first question will probably be that if we can't activate it now, how do we know it will allow activation in 30 days time. My argument will probably be that it will give time to set up the modem to allow "automatic" registration. I was quite keen on P.Pilcher's manual solution, though.

Again, many thanks.

[P.Pilcher]

Sorry you are having problems. The unique product ket is indeed the one on the label attached to the computer. All the discs containing XP are the almost the same (unless they are carrying service pack enhancements) and are in no way personalised. I built a new computer about 9 months ago to replace my then current one which was running XP. As the old one was being taken out of service, I considered it legitimate to use the rescue disc from my old machine to put a copy of XP on my newly built unit. (Whether it is or not is a moot point.)
XP from the old rescue disc was installed on the new machine, and by using the telephone system and the unique code from the label on my old machine, XP was successfully validatad. I have now stuck that label on the case of my new one, my old machine having been dismantled and the bits used elsewhere, but it's hard drive is now an additional drive in my new machine.
Since that time I have re-installed XP on two other machines using the same rescue disc, but in each case have sucessfully validated the copies using the unique validation code from the labels attached to each machine.
Incidentally, I noted some time ago that this validation code had been rubbed off the label attached to the bottom of my laptop. Fortunately, if you use something like Belarc Advisor, this will give you the unique code which, after validation, is stored somewhere on the hard drive. I have copied this code down and safely stored it against the time that this copy of XP gets corrupted.

P.P.

[Fareastdriver]

Is it a rescue disc or a glossy gold Microsoft copy? I have just reinstalled my XP with my own Microsoft copy anf that loaded fine. All I did was register it, no codes required, and it recognised it and is now showering me with updates.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

The disk is indeed a genuine MS embedded hologram job.

It was somehow stuck in a loop. It wouldn't show the validation code, nor allow the 30 days unactivated access, nor start in safe mode. So, today, I formatted the partition (again) and reloaded it all over again. Surprise, surprise; it let us in to the 30 day period and I followed the go back in and activate option. That gave chance to set up the modem and, as I couldn't stand the possibility of the validation code being invisible for the 3rd reload, the dial direct option was chosen. It worked! :ok:

Many thanks to you all for your patient advice and guidance.

[P.Pilcher]

Sounds like some of the "secret" activation files remained on your hard disk and were corrupted giving the new copy of XP some "duff" information. Several years ago, I had to re-install XP on my old computer as it had become corrupted. On telling the rescue disc to give it the "full Monty" as no repair options had worked, it promptly re-installed itself but did not request re-validation. Although all my user files had disappeared (but I had managed to make a copy of "my documents" into a new folder on the hard disc before the re-installation), the re-installed program had obviously managed to find these "secret" files and established that it should behave as a fully validated copy. No doubt someone can tell us which those files are and where they can be found!

P.P.

[mad_jock]

Which is why I always do a low level format before reinstalling an operating system.

I have been bitten way to many times with nasty's and funny's getting past a full install with out one.

[rottenray]

One more thing on the XP validation process...

If you don't input the exact same information as when you originally set the machine up, it will usually bounce.

Best to call Mother Microsoft in that instance!

[Loose rivets]

Which is why I always do a low level format before reinstalling an operating system.

By this do you mean the setting that is simply NOT the quick format? Or do you have a utility that does a proper low level format?

[mad_jock]

personally I use fdisk off a live OS USB stick.

But I wouldn't recommend that to your average user.

I will let one of the more current Admins tell you the difference between quick and none quick format in the windows enviroment.

Personally after a bit of a bitch of a virus to get rid of my personal method of reinstalling is.

Live OS boot.

fdisk

Single pass of shred

reinstall the OS

I will fully agree it is over kill!!!! I don't care it works for me. :p

[oldbeefer]

For my future reference, what number is to be called please?

[mad_jock]

oldbeefer is so so tempting to give you a dodgy number to a pervy line at this point.

[cats_five]

fdisk doesn't do a low level format, it simply reformats the disk. I agree you don't want a quick format, but every recent Windows installation I've ever done offered me the choice of which partition to install into along with the ability to remove, recreate and reformat partitions.

[oldbeefer]

I've plenty of those already!

[mad_jock]

fdisk will do a low level format as long as you start it with the correct "flag" or shall we we say the version I use on my live OS does it.

[cats_five]

In Windows fdisk will do a quick format or a full format (it always does the later if you change file system type say from FAT32 to NTFS), but not a real low-level format. Low-level formats needed a utility from the disk maker.

From Wikipedia:
Disk formatting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_formatting#Transition_away_from_LLF)

Transition away from LLF
Starting in the late 1980s, driven by the volume of IBM compatible PCs, HDDs became routinely available pre-formatted with a compatible low-level format. At the same time, the industry moved from historical (dumb) bit serial interfaces (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Disk_interface_families_used_in_personal_com puters) to modern (intelligent bit serial interfaces and Word serial interfaces (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Disk_interface_families_used_in_personal_com puters) wherein the low level format was performed at the factory.
Today, an end-user (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/End-user), in most cases, should never perform a low-level formatting of an IDE or ATA hard drive, and in fact it is often not possible to do so on modern hard drives outside of the factory.[7] (http://www.pprune.org/#cite_note-6)[8] (http://www.pprune.org/#cite_note-7)

Disk reinitializationhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg)
This section needs additional citations (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations) for verification (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability).
Please help improve this article (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disk_formatting&action=edit) by adding reliable references (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources). Unsourced material may be challenged (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Template:Citation_needed) and removed (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence). (July 2009)
While it is impossible to perform an LLF on most modern hard drives (since the mid-1990s) outside the factory, the term "low-level format" is still being used (erroneously) for what should be called the reinitialization of a hard drive to its factory configuration (and even these terms may be misunderstood). Reinitialization should include identifying (and sparing out if possible) any sectors which cannot be written to and read back from the drive, correctly. The term has, however, been used by some to refer to only a portion of that process, in which every sector of the drive is written to; usually by writing a zero (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Zero) byte (http://www.pprune.org/wiki/Byte) to every addressable location on the disk, sometimes called zero-filling.

The present ambiguity in the term "low-level format" seems to be due to both inconsistent documentation on web sites and the belief by many users that any process below a "high-level (file system) format" must be called a low-level format. Instead of correcting this mistaken idea (by clearly stating such a process cannot be performed on specific drives), various drive manufacturers have actually described reinitialization software as LLF utilities on their web sites. Since users generally have no way to determine the difference between a true LLF and reinitialization (they simply observe running the software results in a hard disk that must be partitioned and "high-level formatted"), both the misinformed user and mixed signals from various drive manufacturers have perpetuated this error. Note: Whatever possible misuse of such terms may exist (search hard drive manufacturers' web sites for all these terms), many sites do make such reinitialization utilities available (possibly as bootable floppy diskette or CD image files), to both overwrite every byte and check for damaged sectors on the hard disk.

[mad_jock]

I have never used the windows fdisk.

But you could be right. It is proberly my poor terminology

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

The next time I have a computer problem, this Forum is going to be my first reference point. I tried all the "help" sites via Google and none of the information was as comprehensive or readable/understandable as the advice you lads gave; and are still giving. :ok:

Again, many thanks to everyone.