XP Validation

My friend purchased a Dell laptop from e-bay. I am doing some work on it, for example; doing updates, installing anti-spyware software (only from major geeks, of course), & transferring data from it onto a pc. Anyway, I started doing Windows updates & the laptop would not validate. Now I'm getting little pop-ups from the system tray saying, "This version of Windows may be counterfeit." To fix this, Microsoft wants $149. However, automatic updates will install all updates automatically; & in fact, it just recently installed Service Pack 2 successfully. Automatic updates will work, but when I click on Start, Windows Update & go to the Microsoft Update Website; it keeps saying that the version of Windows is not geniune or valid & then proceeds to the page with the request for $149 to fix this situation. Does anyone know what is going on here? I don't understand why Automatic Updates works when the other is happening if I try to update manually. The agravating part is the box continuing to pop-up near the system tray, which interferes with everything. Also, would e-bay sell a "counterfeit" version? Has anyone ever experienced this? Should my friend contact the seller from e-bay? Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks in advance! Shanrene

 

Check newegg.com or ask around. Find out what verson you want. I got xp pro for 130 at newegg. Any other type of help on that is not allowed at this web site and personally I don't condone piracy.

Just don't take that personally. I am not judgeing or assuming thats what you want to do or learn how to.

 

It's easy to jump to this conclusion, but a validation message popping up does not necessarily mean the computer is running a pirated version of the operating system.

Does the laptop case have a certificate of authenticity on it anywhere, or did it come with any documentation, a windows CD etc ?
If so, you may be able to get it activated by calling microsoft.

 

Ok, thanks! Duh, don't know what I was thinking. I looked on the back of the laptop, & apparantly it came with Windows 98 SE originally installed, so I guess whoever sold it on e-bay tried to put a copy of XP on it that had maybe already been used on another pc. No...no CD came with it, etc. So much for buying stuff on e-bay, huh? Is there a way to get it back to the original OS? I know Dell pc's sometimes have a partition with the Recovery OS on it, but don't know about laptops. Thanks, Tarquin, for not assuming I was trying to do something ilegal, as I know that geeks would not help with something like that, so it would be stupid of me to try to get that help here. I just couldn't understand why automatic updates worked if the copy of XP was not valid, etc...Thanks again to all! And by the way...Happy Happy Holidays! Shanrene