product activation

"John" <makulais1@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:034601c38445$333f9280$a101280a@phx.gbl...

> i am considering buying a copy of XP Home from someone, he
> states it has never been activated. Is there any way to
> check that without actually installing it? He gave me the
> product key to check it with.

No,

You will have to take his word for it.
If it has been activated recently you will find out when you attempt to
activate it.
You need him to sign and have witnessed a sworn statement that if you
encounter a previously activated message he will refund you or whatever you
see fit to write into this.

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

"John" <makulais1@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:034601c38445$333f9280$a101280a@phx.gbl...

> i am considering buying a copy of XP Home from someone, he
> states it has never been activated. Is there any way to
> check that without actually installing it? He gave me the
> product key to check it with.
>
> john

I don't know if there's any way to check & see, but I do
know that if he's ever used the CD - you're given 30days
to activate it before it dies. So if he's had it
installed on a computer for more than 30 days - it has
been activated on that computer.
As for registering it, registration is optional -
activation is mandatory. You don't need to register the
software with Microsoft, but it needs to be activated to
be used after the 30 day mark. Activation is a copy
protection, meaning you can't install WinXP on more than 1
PC using the same CD. If you do so anyway, the 2nd PC
refuses to operate after 30 days. (So those who want it
on both their laptop & home computer will have to buy 2 &
get a 10% discount on the 2nd one from microsoft.)
The activation info is sent to microsoft's database via
internet. If you have no internet, you'll be forced to
call microsoft & type in a bunch of numbers onto your
computer. It detects your hardware components & settings
so there's no way to truly fool it.


J&J

>-----Original Message-----
>i am considering buying a copy of XP Home from someone, he
>states it has never been activated. Is there any way to
>check that without actually installing it? He gave me the
>product key to check it with.
>
>john
>.
>

Ok, I have a brand new hard drive and a brand new copy of
Windows XP. I told the system upon installation to
activate. Everything looked ok, but now every so often a
message comes up stating how many days I have left to
activate. When I hit the button, a screen comes up that
say Windows is already Activated. Then I press OK and it
shows up again a few hours later.

Please help.

After having to reinstall XP Home and activating the OS,
the sytem will ask for product activation on each rebot
of the machine. There is only one user and after each
activation the OS states the the activation was
completed. I have tried both internet & phone activation
but it continues to ask for product activation after each
reboot. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

i bought a new copy of windows xp and installed and
activated it, now as soon as i startup it asks me to
activate windows and when i say ok, it tells me its
already activated and takes me back to the startup
screen, and this continues in a loop, whats the problem??

"Adam Bartholomew" <Bart203040@Yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>i bought a new copy of windows xp and installed and
>activated it, now as soon as i startup it asks me to
>activate windows and when i say ok, it tells me its
>already activated and takes me back to the startup
>screen, and this continues in a loop, whats the problem??

Try re-registering the activation .DLL files
Use Start- Run and enter the following text in the dialog box:
regsvr32.exe regwizc.dll

Then do it again with the following text:
regsvr32.exe licdll.dll

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

>-----Original Message-----
>i bought a new copy of windows xp and installed and
>activated it, now as soon as i startup it asks me to
>activate windows and when i say ok, it tells me its
>already activated and takes me back to the startup
>screen, and this continues in a loop, whats the problem??
>.
>It's a test the security system gives to the user.

Making sure it knows who you are

>-----Original Message-----
>i bought a new copy of windows xp and installed and
>activated it, now as soon as i startup it asks me to
>activate windows and when i say ok, it tells me its
>already activated and takes me back to the startup
>screen, and this continues in a loop, whats the problem??
>.
>Hi,

If I understand the problem Adam has is he is unable to
access the O.S it is in a loop bringing him back to the
startup-screen. I have the same problem after I logon to
my rescued O.S. from the sp2 I am asked if I want to
actvate imediately after logoning on! yes as admin,
and when I answer yes i am kicked right back to the logon
screen. Any body have some help. David