Okay, I have a mate who against my wishes talked me into getting his pc up and running again, here's what happened. I deleted all the partitions and installed windows xp with a reformat in NTFS (used my xp copy) All was cool, I had the code to activate windows on the back of the machine so entered that when requested. A little firthur into the install it asked to (I think, bad memory) register xp, so he filled out his details and hit the OK button and everything looked good for a while. After 10 minutes fiddling around with settings etc a message popped up saying that the registration had failed (also he has no sound, but I think thats a driver issue). WHY??? I think it maybe that the number on the machine has been registered already and the details didn't match up. I buggered it up yes, but is there any advice or cheats to get it working, or anything else I'm supposed to be doing? Also will anything bad happen? All help received with thanks. ...Oh, and don't get me wrong, I'm not trynna give him a free copy of windows, I tried a repair first but it didn't wanna play ball. I'm just using my copy because he doesn't have his anymore.
You used your copy of XP, which is very likely to be a different build to that of the machine which has the sticker on in which the serial is designed for. As a result the activation will not work as the serial is not valid for the build of XP you used to install with. Find the original disc that came with the computer. If its an OEM build with XP on a partition and you have deleted it then contact the manufacturer for a new copy on disc - it will cost you (often £30). Or... by a new copy of XP and install it with the serial that came with it. These are the only ways to do it legally. "Cheating" as such can cause issues unless you know what you are doing.
Another option if the computer is good enough is to run the windows 7 rc. I find it rock solid and could be a free solution to get the computer running for now.
Wrong version of Windows you have installed thar. I'm not sure the legality of it, but you can find .iso files on the internet. Retail and OEM. They don't have any product key attached with them. Which is technically what you pay for.
For real?!? ...and It won't let me update the drivers for the sound now though, should I have just activated and left it at that then? Yeah, not an option, it's a few years old In what way? sorry, I'm not too tech savvy Different built? Wossat? The physical aspect?
Registration failed because Microsoft don't support XP any more, that is all. Nothing has gone wrong, just get the audio drivers from the manufacturers website.
So... have you managed to activate Windows or not? Registration is not compulsory and is pointless, its the activation that is important. I was under the impression that you couldn't activate, or am I wrong? XP is still supported by Microsoft and will do for a while yet (until 2014 at least).
I can do the first bit where it asks for the long 25? digit code, but the bit afterwards where it asks for your details is where it said the registration had failed. Sounds like a plan
Simple question that no-one else seems to have picked up on but do you have an active internet connection. If not, then thats why registration and activation would fail. Have you installed the relevant driver for your ethernet adaptor etc?
Yeah, it seemed to work straigh away, windows looked for a connection and found one with no trouble. Used it to DL AVG and Firefox etc.
Cool, it may have sounded like a daft question, but it's easier to rule out the obvious when tackling problems
Oh, I was under the impression you were having troubles activating your copy. But yes, you do not need to register Windows XP.
Ahhhh cool. I knew a guy a few years back who had a pirated copy of windows and couldn't get any of the updates. It kept bugging him every time he switched it on and then constantly nagged him while he was using it. I Just don't want that happening to him as I was supposed to be fixing his pc for him Thanks all for the advice
