Please Help Me

[mathew]

hi,

im running windows XP home edition upgrade,, about a week ago my computer asked me to re-register my product key, so i did but it says it has expired or is not valid,, so i phoned microsoft got a new key (just because i upgraded my graphics card)). ANYWAY i need to reformatt my computer but i am worried that i wont have a valid key to reinstall XP afterwards!!!!!!!

does somebody know how to help me here??



thanks

 

[mathew]

please help.....

please someone must be able to help me???

 

[Lukas]

I don't get something. M$ gave you a new key right? Did they tell you to format, or is it your wish?

I would say to format away, and reactivate once everything is ok. Postpone activation untill you have a fully working system, with the right drivers and the right hardware, the phone MS again, and tell them you've reformatted your pc, and need reactivation.

ANywayz, never *cough* had too *cough* activate my version, so I'm not an expert here...


Greetz,

Lukas

 

[mathew]

Originally posted by Lukas
I don't get something. M$ gave you a new key right? Did they tell you to format, or is it your wish?

I would say to format away, and reactivate once everything is ok. Postpone activation untill you have a fully working system, with the right drivers and the right hardware, the phone MS again, and tell them you've reformatted your pc, and need reactivation.

ANywayz, never *cough* had too *cough* activate my version, so I'm not an expert here...


Greetz,

Lukas

its my wish to reformat,, XP has collected so much rubbish since i got it, and i usually reformat every 6 months.

i just hate phoning them up,,,,,, all i did was change my graphics card,,i upgrade regularly so its going to become a big problem..

*cough cough, (do you know anyway of blocking the activation) *cough cough*

cheers

 

[Lonman]

Yeah, If you have a legimate copy of XP... no worries... format to your heart's content... do it every day if the fancy strikes. There's no limit to how many times you can activate. You've already XPerienced the worse case scenario... contacting M$ over the phone.

 

[mathew]

BUT

xp wont let me use my KEY anymore,, so i have to keep phoneing the big M$


DAMN I HATE THERE TECHIES

 

[Lonman]

Well then, my advise would be to get yourself some imaging software (Norton Ghost or PowerQuest Drive Image) and once you get your basic installation activated, image it and next time you need it you have it. The key M$ gave you the last time 'should' continue to work (if you wrote it down).

 

[mathew]

DAMMIT

i didnt write the bloody thing down


but i heard that it is stored somewhere on your computer,, where would it be.?

 

[Lonman]

That I don't know.

 

[Lukas]

Damn, I typed a whole message and my IE crashed on me.... I'll use less profanity this time,

Look, YOUR pc is YOUR PROPERTY, YOU paid for it, YOU are using it. AND you have a legit copy of XP. So format every day, or even 3 times a day, no one has the right to tell you that you're not allowed to do what you want with your own pc .

Imaging the drive, as mentioned above, seems like a very good idea. And writing down the key you get from MS is a excellent idea, so do it next time you activate

I think your present key is stored as a hex value in the registry, but don't know bout extracting it. Check out the thread 'anyone plyed with the XP Keygen' started by KingNothing, there you'll find some usefull info.


Greetz

Lukas

 

[Bytes Back]

Now, I might be thick here ! (stop laughung at the back)

If you format your hard drive and then install xp you can use the key that came with your copy of Xp. Theres no way on the planet that the setup routine can check this key if you delay activation until after you have installed it.

 

[mathew]

so your saying, it will work again

Originally posted by Bytes back
Now, I might be thick here ! (stop laughung at the back)

If you format your hard drive and then install xp you can use the key that came with your copy of Xp. Theres no way on the planet that the setup routine can check this key if you delay activation until after you have installed it.

are you telling me that my original key will be valid again if i reformatt,,,, my original key has been rejected once. (cant figure out why,, because it happend after installing a new GRAPHICS CARD)

SO i f i reformat my key should work again right?????

 

[Lukas]

I don't get it: why are you so worried about your key not working? It's not a problem, get on the phone, get a new one from MS and write it down this time. Take an image of your HD and use it every time you format without big hardware changes..

 

[mathew]

IM new to this XP thing

im new to XP, i was just noyt sure of how the activation worked..

thanks for the help..