I need to retain programs and data on this computer if possible so I'm avoiding reformatting.
Apparently the owner had a bad XP license and attempted a refresh install.
After the refresh install and after the reboot the system hung at the "Please wait..." install screen. After a hard power down and reboot the system is requiring activation during the user login at which time it hangs at a black screen.
I can login the system in Safe-Mode (non-networked) and I've tried another refresh install and a plain SP3 install with the same problems.
My question:
Is there any way to circumvent the auto-activation at login so it can be activated with the normal activation GUI?
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
It sounds like your customer did a bad repair install and messed things up. At this point I would attempt to backup the data just in case.
You can try bypassing the activation at login by using safe mode with networking and previously disconnecting the Ethernet cable. The auto-activate will fail because of a failure to reach the Internet and hopefully it will allow you to login and reach the normal GUI.
PriceD:
No errors were reported, just a warning:
Your Windows product has not been activated with Microsoft yet. To activate Windows, use the Product Activation Wizard.
Source: Windows Product Activation
Category: None
Type: Warning
Event ID: 1011
BitsBytesandMore:
I thought you had a great idea but it didn't work. It still insists on activating during login and then the screen goes black.
If you really want to save the data and programs on this computer, get another hard drive and install Windows XP.
When you activate Windows XP, Microsoft stores the data in the Windows Product Activation database files wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak in the folder %systemroot%\system32.
So we need to restore these files to the hard drive you are having problems with:
1: After finishing the clean install on the "New hard drive", turn it off and plug in the "Old Hard Drive" as an additional drive (hopefully you will configure it as "D").
2. Restart the computer and Open Windows explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and copy the files Wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak from the "New Hard Drive" to D:\Windows\System32 (Old Hard drive).
3. Shutdown, remove the "New HD" and replace with the "Old HD". It should now boot and have 30 days to activate.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: PriceDPosted on 2009-08-24 at 19:25:05ID: 25174165
Are you able to check the event log to see what error there are. Also, did you install SP3 separatly?