• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

XP MCE Activation nightmare

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
The morning of January 2nd I woke up to a lovely message from my computer. When logging in I was stopped and told I had to activate XP. Thing is, the OS is activated. Once I click "yes" on the screen that asks me whether I want to activate or log off, the activation box pops up, and then tells me XP is already activated. From there my only option is clicking exit, which logs me off. This broken cycle is driving me mad. I still have safe mode and command prompt access of course, just no knowledge of how to fix it. Help plz?
 
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
3,318 (0.57/day)
Location
Dallas, Tx
Processor Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard Asrock LGA1155 Z77 Extreme 4
Cooling Cooler Master Evo 212
Memory 16GB (4X4) G.Skill Ripjaw 2 DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) Nvidia gForce GTX 660ti
Storage 1x Samsung 840 EVO 256GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 500GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 80GB 3Gb/s
Display(s) ASUS VH242H Black + 2 HP 2311x 23" LED
Case Fractal Design R4
Audio Device(s) Realtek OnBoard Both
Power Supply Cooler Master 850w
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
What did you do the night before you shut off the computer?
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
Nothing actually, I had the computer running, shut it down the night before and then booted it the next morning. Once I get back to college I'm going to uninstall and backup everything I can. Hopefully I can get back into the machine before that and fix the problem so I can do everything the easy way.
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Did you try a system restore?
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
neither of those processes worked.. :( windows is still giving me an error and forcing me to activate or shut down.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
6,270 (0.95/day)
Location
New York
Processor INTEL CORE I9-9900K @ 5Ghz all core 4.7Ghz Cache @1.305 volts
Motherboard ASUS PRIME Z390-P ATX
Cooling CORSAIR HYDRO H150I PRO RGB 360MM 6x120mm fans push pull
Memory CRUCIAL BALLISTIX 3000Mhz 4x8 32gb @ 4000Mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA GEFORECE RTX 2080 SUPER XC HYBRID GAMING
Storage ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB 3D NAND NVMe,Intel 660p 1TB m.2 ,1TB WD Blue 3D NAND,500GB WD Blue 3D NAND,
Display(s) 50" Sharp Roku TV 8ms responce time and Philips 75Hz 328E9QJAB 32" curved
Case BLACK LIAN LI O11 DYNAMIC XL FULL-TOWER GAMING CASE,
Power Supply 1600 Watt
Software Windows 10
you may need to call MS to fix that issue as long as your copy is legit .
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
I don't want to bother calling as I'm reformatting once I get back to college. Heres the exact error

"a problem is preventing windows from accuratly checking the status of the license for this computer. to proceed, your copy of windows must be activated with microsoft. do you want to activate windows now?"

If you guys don't know then I'll have to just uninstall everything the hard way.
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
Does anyone know which files windows checks for activation on startup?
 

Ahhzz

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
8,708 (1.48/day)
System Name OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory 64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s) 22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s) SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit
Used this to repair one about three weeks ago...

Method 2
To resolve the problem, repair the installation of Windows XP by using the Windows XP CD, and then replace the files. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP CD in the CD drive or in the DVD drive.
2. Restart your computer.
3. When you receive the following message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD:
Press any key to start from CD
Note Your computer must be configured to start from the CD drive or from the DVD drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD drive or from the DVD drive, see the documentation that came with your personal computer. Alternatively, contact the manufacturer.
4. When you receive the following message, press R to start the Recovery Console. This part of the Setup program prepares Windows XP to run on your computer.
To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation by using Recovery Console, press R.

To exit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

5. Press 1 to access your primary drive installation by using the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password. If you do not have an administrator password, press ENTER.
7. Type cd %SystemRoot%\System32 , and then press ENTER.
8. Rename the following files by using the REN command. To do this, type REN File_Name.extension File_Name.old at the command prompt.
• Wpa.dbl
• Pidgen.dll
• Actshell.html
• Licdll.dll
• Regwizc.dll
• Licwmi.dll
• Wpabaln.exe
Note In the previous command, File_Name.extension represents the new file name. Additionally, File_Name.old represents the old file name.
9. Type the drive letter of the CD drive together with a colon, and then press ENTER. For example, you type D: , and then press ENTER.
10. Type cd i386 , and then press ENTER.
11. Type the following commands individually. Press ENTER after each command.
• Expand licwmi.dl_%Systemroot%\System32
• Expand regwizc.dl_%Systemroot%\System32
• Expand licdll.dl_%Systemroot%\System32
• Expand wpabaln.ex_%Systemroot%\System32
• Expand wpa.db_%Systemroot%\System32
• Expand actshell.ht_%Systemroot%\System32
• Copy pidgen.dll%Systemroot%\System32
12. Type Exit , and then press ENTER to restart the computer.


from http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/.../thread/fe6a16ef-b185-454c-9c2d-c09503f4fb08/
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
4,213 (0.75/day)
Location
Vietnam
System Name Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory 16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s) Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage 750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s) LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s) On Board Realtek
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard Wooting Two / K400+
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758
Don't you just love these protection methods they put on that are completely circumvented in the illegitimate versions? Sorry a bit O.T. Glad you got it sorted tho
 

Ahhzz

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
8,708 (1.48/day)
System Name OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory 64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s) 22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s) SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit
Excellent, glad to hear I helped and you were able to get it squared away :)
 

KennyT772

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
3,572 (0.54/day)
System Name Raptor
Processor Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling Zalman CNPS9700
Memory 1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s) XFX 9600GT
Storage Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s) Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 500w
Yeah its just peachy...God I hate M$. I think from now on I will buy a copy for a computer and then just install the cracks so that it actually works right.
 
Top