Recovery from allowing WPA to expire

[Cliff Johnston]

I mistakenly let a PC sit too long without activating Windows XP Pro. The WPA has expired and Windows won't bring up the WPA wizard. It keeps giving me the following message "This copy of Windows must be activated with Microsoft before you can log on. Please ask a computer administrator to activate Windows on this computer". My options for this message is an "ok" button and the close (x) icon. When i select either option, I get the "logging off..." screen, followed by the "saving your settings..." screen, and finally the "loading your personal settings..." screen before the same message pops up again. This process repeats itself everytime I reboot. I tried getting to the WPA wizard from safe mode, but that tells me i can only access WPA wizard from normal mode. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Windows XP Logs You Off When You Try to Activate the Product
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330136&Product=winxp

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

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

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"Cliff Johnston" <john...@shimadzumed.com> wrote in message:
news:0DA2E807-7976-4BA0...@microsoft.com...

[Cliff Johnston]

Thanks Carey, I'll check those links out to see what works best.

[kurttrail]

"By the act of scrolling this post on your computer, and/or printing or
replying to this post, you agree that I am your everlasting Lord &
Saviour. Breach of this term will result in you burning in hell for
ever and ever! Amen!"

Cliff Johnston wrote:

Reboot your computer into Safe Mode.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001060608000039

Use the Alternate Method.

Log on to an Administrators account.

Click on the Start Button, and then click on Run, and type:

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

Press Enter on your Keyboard. If nothing seems to happen, then clear
out what you just typed in the Run line, and type:

regsvr32 licdll.dll

Hit Enter key, then type:

regsvr32 regwizc.dll

Hit Enter again, then retype:

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

Hit Enter yet again.

Hopefully that should do it, if not then you're sh*t out of luck and
will probably have to reinstall.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei!"

[Cliff Johnston]

Thanks Kurt, but I'd already tried that route as well...I felt my post was already too long to include everything I'd previously tried.

[Alex Nichol]

Cliff Johnston wrote:

>I mistakenly let a PC sit too long without activating Windows XP Pro. The WPA has expired and Windows won't bring up the WPA wizard. It keeps giving me the following message "This copy of Windows must be activated with Microsoft before you can log on. Please ask a computer administrator to activate Windows on this computer".

Boot hitting F8 as the BIOS info goes to black; take Safe Mode. That
will allow you to log in as Administrator, and there you can run
Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Activate Windows
and use the 'activate by phone' option (Safe mode does not support net
access, and I don't *think* the 'Safe mode with Networking' will work)

You will have to read out a 50 digit number that will be displayed, and
will be given another long number to type in

--
Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows Technologies)
Bournemouth, U.K. Al...@mvps.D8E8L.org (remove the D8 bit)

[Cliff Johnston]

Thanks for everyone's help...finally figured it out. Auto-login mode was enabled in registry, causing this error message to pop up. Once I disabled it, a wpa message popped up with options to activate the wizard. Good to go.