windows xp not genuine

Discussion in 'Software' started by billy73, Oct 10, 2008.

  1. billy73

    billy73 Private E-2

    i bought my computer in 2005. unfortunately my son was using my pc until last year when i bought him a laptop. While he was using it a worm virus got onto my pc. my friend formatted my hard drive instead of just restoring to factory settings. i now keep getting messages that my version of windows xp is not genuine and my screen remains black please advise how to get rid of this

    thanks in advance
     
  2. Fred_G

    Fred_G Heat packin' geek

    Welcome to MajorGeeks!

    Did your friend install a legit XP Operating System? If so, call Microsoft and they should be able to get you straightened out. If he did not use a legit one, can you use the restore part to get your computer back on the original OS?

    If the restore is not an option, and your current OS is not legit, I would buy an OEM copy of XP. They were around $80 or so last time I priced them.

    Good luck! Hope the restore option works for you!
     
  3. billy73

    billy73 Private E-2

    thanks for your reply

    Unfortunately my copy of windows is not legit and there is no restore point although i do have an original of windows xp from 2002. will i be able to upgrade for free if i install this

    thanks again
     
  4. duckfeet

    duckfeet Corporal

    You probably could install it, and get the upgrades, but if it is not the one *this* computer came with, the same thing will happen, where they will tell you you have to register, and give you a few days to do so, then it all goes away...and believe me, they are *really* good at catching people, and I've slid by microsoft once or twice, changing motherboards and stuff, and they believed me, but it can be tricky...if it's not the original disk, it usually ends up being caught, and then it was all wasted effort...I went thru this after loading linux--forgetting that I had bought this computer second hand, and that the boot disk I also got, was no guarantee he hadn't registered it elsewhere, so when I did kind of what you are doing, and got the registration pop up, and punched in the key, it didn't go thru, and I had to talk to a microsoft rep and all that--trying to reload xp--and she believed me, and let it slide...but the same thing w/Vista, and it was no go....

    Best wishes...
     
  5. billy73

    billy73 Private E-2

    thanks for all your help
     

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