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Windows XP Validation

Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
edited October 2007 in Help / Advice Forum
My computer finally shat a brick and died on me. I can't afford to build the machine I want right now, so I threw together a $150 quicky that I intend to dispose of sometime next year. I installed Windows XP, and now it's telling me I've used all my allowed installations with this key. I'm running a free copy I got as a student a couple years back while enrolled in the IT department, so I'm not sure exactly how to go about this. I know with a normal retail version, I could just call up, say I had to reformat my hard drive, and they'd reset my allocation. Will this work with a student version as well?

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Posts

  • Uncle LongUncle Long Registered User regular
    edited October 2007
    I'm pretty sure that this will work with this copy. I used to work at a computer store and they were pretty liberal about enabling validation once you called MS. Fun fact: for about three minutes after MS activates your new license every computer connected on the nearby network will be able to be activated.

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  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    edited October 2007
    Uncle Long wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure that this will work with this copy. I used to work at a computer store and they were pretty liberal about enabling validation once you called MS. Fun fact: for about three minutes after MS activates your new license every computer connected on the nearby network will be able to be activated.

    How does that happen?

    Is it a bug, a known issue or a "feature"?

    Dhalphir on
  • amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited October 2007
    Just a word of wisdom. If you call and get the middle east, hang up and call back till you get the states, or ask to be sent to the states. The last few times I've called and gotten the middle east they gave me a key, but it was recycled, and any time I made a hardware change, or when I tried to validate, it wouldn't work. The US office said they've had a big problem with it.

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  • Uncle LongUncle Long Registered User regular
    edited October 2007
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    Uncle Long wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure that this will work with this copy. I used to work at a computer store and they were pretty liberal about enabling validation once you called MS. Fun fact: for about three minutes after MS activates your new license every computer connected on the nearby network will be able to be activated.

    How does that happen?

    Is it a bug, a known issue or a "feature"?

    You know, I have no idea. But we definitely waited until all the computers we were reformatting were in need of validation before we called and then we'd validate them all at once (each one had their own copy of windows and most had their license on the side of their case; this was just easier than calling up over and over again).

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  • stigweardstigweard Registered User regular
    edited October 2007
    Worst they can do is refuse, and I have never had them refuse me for any of the machines I have had to register over the phone.

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  • taliosfalcontaliosfalcon Registered User regular
    edited October 2007
    If its an MSDNA key, which i'd assume it is since he got it for free from a school, MS won't reactivate it.

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  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited October 2007
    taliosfalcon wrote: »
    If its an MSDNA key, which i'd assume it is since he got it for free from a school, MS won't reactivate it.

    It is. I was trying to remember what the acronym was. So I'm out of luck then? I have another copy... I just didn't want to waste activations on that if I could just have them reactivate this one.

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  • Uncle LongUncle Long Registered User regular
    edited October 2007
    stigweard wrote: »
    Worst they can do is refuse, and I have never had them refuse me for any of the machines I have had to register over the phone.

    Yeah, I'd say you just give it a try. Honestly, they're pretty reasonable about activation.

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  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited October 2007
    Well that was unexpected. I didn't speak with a person at all, and the machine didn't say boo about it being an MSDNA student version.

    Thanks thread!

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