error 0x80080204 running genuine validation on XP Media Center

[Kristinsson@discussions.microsoft.com Olafur Kristinsson]

I'm getting an error: Validation Incomplete: Online Validation Failure
[0x80080204]when running the genuine windows validation when trying to update
my windows system. There is a thread that discusses this error (see below)
and I have comfirmed that the time and date on my computer is correct and I
have contacted Microsoft and they say I have to contact my manufacturer since
I'm running Windows XP Media Center.

I know that I'll spend endless hours trying to get Dell to fix some problem
that is related to the software and they won't be able to fix it. I know this
because their media center tv card is horrible. That is why I badly need to
get the Media center update so I can schedule a soft reboot on the media
center (now I have to reboot my computer almost every day to get the TV
working).

So if anyone can help me related to this error I would be gratefull. I have
tryed uninstalling my anti-virus program but that didn't have any effects. I
have tryed to download the genuine validation program but that came with the
same error. I have followed the step by step troubleshooting process and it
comfirmed everything ok but still I'm not able to run the genuine validation
program to download the windows xp media center update 2.

I'll be glad for any assistance,
Olafur

------older thread reply below-------

Subject: Re: Unable to validate windows. 9/4/2005 12:47 PM PST

By: Carey Frisch [MVP] In: microsoft.public.windowsupdate


You receive a "Validation Incomplete: Online Validation Failure" error
message
or a "0x80080204" error code when you try to validate Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;906533

The Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation check process
does not complete when you try to validate your copy of Windows XP
or Windows 2000 Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;905226

Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of Microsoft Download Center
pages to request assistance directly from Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/ContactDownloads

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aik Leong" wrote:

| Whenever I tried to update my windows, I am asked to validate my windows
but
| it always displays a message telling me that online validation failure
| because the time on my computer is wrong, it is correct. My windows was
| pre-installed when I brought the IBM laptop, have I got a fake windows? How
| do I solve this problem. Please help.

[TaurArian [MVP]]

You receive a "Validation Incomplete: Online Validation Failure" error message
or a "0x80080204" error code when you try to validate Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;906533

The Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation check process
does not complete when you try to validate your copy of Windows XP
or Windows 2000 Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;905226

[Olafur Kristinsson]

As outlined in my posting, the two solutions you mention did not work for me.

Any other ideas?

Cheers,
Olafur

[TaurArian [MVP]]

You cannot download updates when you access the Windows Update Web site from
a Windows XP-based computer that is behind a firewall or a proxy server
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;896226

John Dough posted:
“I ran proxycfg and it showed I was still setup for a proxy - even though in
IE it
showed I wasn't using one.
Running "proxycfg -d" fixed it all up.”

or

Courtesy of Microsoft:
Install the WGA engine manually
==========================
The WGA engine may have been already installed but is not working properly.
We can
use the following steps to reinstall it. This will ensure the engine files
be copied
and registered properly.

1. Download the ActiveX cab file from the following link and then save it to
the
Desktop.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/c/f/acfe4666-1faf-43fd-b6fb-19191521126d/LegitCheckControl.cab

Open the downloaded cab file and we will find the following three files:

GWFSPIDGen.dll
LegitCheckControl.dll
LegitCheckControl.inf

2. Click "Start", click "Run", type: "%windir%\system32" (without
quotations) and
press Enter. Copy the GWFSPIDGen.dll and LegitCheckControl.dll files into
the opened
system32 folder.

3. Click "Start", click "Run", type: "REGSVR32 LegitCheckControl.dll"
(without the
quotations) and press Enter. We will see a popup message state this process
succeeded.

4. Click "Start", click "Run", type: "inf" (without quotations) and press
Enter. Copy
the LegitCheckControl.inf file into the opened inf folder.

5. Right click on the copied LegitCheckControl.inf file in the inf folder,
and then
choose Install. The WGA engine will be installed automatically.

After we finish the above steps, please restart the computer and try to
validate the
Windows again.

[Olafur Kristinsson]

Thank you for taking the time helping me in this. Unfortunately I'm not
behind a proxy and the manual installation didn't make the error go away (and
the DLLs where already there).

I wonder if anyone is into reading the log from the WGA Diagnostic tool. The
diagnostic data reports:
Genuine Validation Status: Exceptional OS
...
OEM Validate: Error: 0x80004005

But this is a different error code than the one displayed when running
windows update (then the error code is 0x80080204).

Any thoughts on that?

[Michael Jennings]

Is method 2 at kb306081 possible for you?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306081
I kind of doubt your Dell recovery disk has the
Recovery Console "repair Windows XP" option,
which is demanded by the KB for fixing 7 files.

"Olafur Kristinsson" <OlafurKr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B1CA825C-C789-4C8F...@microsoft.com...