XP Recovery tool

Hi, iam a newbie here and would appreciate any help, the story goes like this:-
A while ago my hard drive packed in, so the engineer came with a new one! however the one he put in didnt have an OS so he installed his version of XP, NOW however iam getting a msg on my login screen '' this is a generic copy of windows, please activate genuine copy'' so it then takes me to a activation screen so i click on this to activate windows and it comes up with another screen in which to enter the PRODUCT KEY, (there is a link withing this setup page that takes me to microsoft home page, therefor i can still get onto the net this way and this way only, but dont have a desktop now/start menu) ive downloaded an XP KEY RECOVERY tool which gave me a product key that i then tried to use but its saying its the wrong key! is there anything i can do to activate XP again idont have any labels on my tower with the key either

your help would be appreciated guys!!

Mark

 

Sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place! If your computer is from a manufacturer ( HP, Gateway, etc. ), then you could contact them for recovery CD's for your particular model.

As for your current problem, the key recovery program will only recover the key that was originally used to install XP, which Microsoft is refusing to validate, and that is why this approach isn't working.

Best bet would be to find the XP activation key that was on your original hard drive, or contact the "engineer" that installed the replacement drive and request a valid copy of XP if that was included in the price. Hope this helps!

 

i thought that, i already foned them up and they want money! typical eh! i just hough there would be another way around it. thanks for the advice mate! i have found a complete xp pack download on a P2P network (ISO FILE) is this an option??

 

Hi mark,
not sure if the p2p file is the best way to go pal.
there could be problems down that road.
how much did the company want ?
dont know your location, but i'm in england...
you can get, on the net, an OEM copy of XP home for about £55 and XP pro for £75.
if you are elsewhere, try google for prices.
the main advantage is that you then have the cd + the activation/product key if you have another drive failure and need to re-install in the future

 

iam in glasgow m8!! just one of my mates said it was an option! dont really want someone elses copy though, might need to bite the bullet! they quoted me £25 for the recovery disc, but would this still work even though someone elses version of xp is installed on my computer??

thanks in advance!


Mark

 

A recovery CD is a copy of the default software and OS for the system. By wiping out your current and what looks to be, pirated OS, then you can get the OS back to a legit state.

 

so would i need to format my hardrive in order to rid myself of the current O/S and then insert my recovery disk?

 

I wouldn't think so, as most Recovery CD's will install a disk image of the original operating system and installed programs from the factory. This will overwrite whatever is on your computer hard drive.

 

Did your original system have a recovery disk with it? I would guess not, as the engineer installed his version.
Is it possible to contact the sellers or the manufacturers of that machine?
Do you still have the hard drive that "packed in"?
In what way did that hard drive "pack in"?
Is it possible to recover anything from that "packed in" drive?

 

Who is this "engineer"? Where did he come from? Who sent him? These are the people who are (IMO) responsible for your product key. This "engineer" should have extracted the product key from the previous hard drive (unless it was too far gone for that even), or at least been able to provide you with a new, valid, legal key. I'd contact the company or whoever sent the "engineer" and ask them about the whole scenario.... just my 2 bits....

hd2k

As for downloading a copy from a P2P site; NOT recommended! Doing so is basically the same as full blown piracy, and you'd probably end up in the same spot you're in now....

 

the engineer was from HP and he took the hard drive with him! i think the recovery is the bestbest! will give them a call i think! seems to much hassle for the £25 its gonna cost me! thanks for all your help guys

 

Yes! Definitely call them up! The engineer should have known better than to leave you in a spot like this. VERY unprofessional in my opinion. Additionally, you shouldn't have to pay a penny more at this point. It's HP's fault that you're in the spot you're in, so they should rectify the situation ASAP at no charge....

hd2k

 

Let me get this right. You are looking for the PRODUCT KEY for the XP OS, Right?
Did this PC have XP OS on the old hard drive?
What the make of the PC Dell, HP...?

 

yeah iam looking for the product key, and yes the old hard drive had xp o/s on it! the engineer said it was a GENERIC copy of xp he installed(whats the dfference?) by the sounds of it i'll have to pay to get recovery disk from hp which i wasnt happy about as ive already phoned HP up and told them my situation they told me that my warranty covered hardware issues and not software related! they said i should have made a back up which is in hindsight what i should have done but i didnt however with it being the hardrive i would have thought theyd give me the back up with it at least!

 

I find it hard to believe that HP themselves would act in the way indicated. Was the 'engineer' genuinely an HP employee or was he a local contractor to HP?

You may get some joy approaching HP directly (in writing) and explaining the events.

Of course it also partly depends upon what your exact instructions were.
Did you say change the hard drive or did you say fix the pc?

Why do you not have a COA sticker? HP affix these pretty well. Have you had a really good look for it? Buying a recovery or any other XP CD will be of no use to you without a valid number to input. HP may be able to supply the original from the pc serial numbers.

There are usually plenty of scrap pcs at local tips, might be another way to obtain a valid COA.

 

I as agree that HP should fix the problem.
Do you have a Windows sticker on your PC. It would be a multi color sticker which should give you the product key. Most PC's, Dell's HP's ..ect have them on the side or back of the PC if it was shipped with windows installed. Look and see if there is one.

 

right i found the product key and the sticker! it was on my blind side, however it not working is this because another version has been installed!
i not sure if the engineer was a contracter i called them up and went through the diagnostics with them and it was they who determiind it was a hard drive fault!

 

Well you found the COA label. Good show.

Perhaps you also have the original recovery disk hidden away somewhere?
I am always (never) surprised how many customers claim they don't have one, and yet can find it when I say "well you will have to buy a new copy of windows then"

If you bought the latest James Bond DVD and lost it, you wouldn't expect WH Smith to give you another one for free would you?

Was the HP repair done under guarantee?
I expect the HP repair man arrived thinking you would have a recovery disk. A proper HP man would not bring an empty hard drive if he thought you were relying on the recovery partition on a dead drive.

Your COA number should work with any proper HP recovery disk so bite the bullet and find yours or buy a new one. £25 is a very good price for a new copy of Windows XP.

 

I have a couple of older HP's and both have kind of a secret compartment on top of it that lifts up and my disk was stored there. It's worth a look if you haven't checked there.