Windows XP Service Pack 3

[Ron Thompson]

Just a warning. Don't install Windows service pack 3 unless you have your original license code. I don't know where mine is as this computer was purchased over 2 years ago. And I had it built with XP installed off of Ebay.

Well tonight I installed service pack 3. They make you do a reboot. When it comes up, they give you 30 days to register your copy. I'm not sure what happens if I don't reister in the 30 days.

I'm not sure what I can do, but I would like to back it out.

Ron Thompson

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ron,

Can you do a restore to a previous date and get back to Service Pack 2?

[Steve knight]

not sure if you can do that. but it is worth a try. but you should have saw something with service pack too if I remember right. I think then if you had a hacked version of xp it would not update. so if you have not done any auto updates you may not have seen the message yet.
look for a sticker on the computer thats the usual way. you can get software to retrieve the code but it may be too late for that.

[Don Eddard]

And I had it built with XP installed off of Ebay.

Therein lies the rub. I've run various bootleg copies of this or that application for the past 20+ years, but it's usually a good idea to have a legit copy of the OS. Microsoft has a racket, but if you've gotta run Windows as many of us do, it's usually best not to try to get around it.

[David Dustin]

I had installed SP3 on one of my machines and then it wouldn't boot.
To fix it, I had to restore to an earlier version and it handled it fine.

I had installed it on 3 other systems without incident before.

David

[Robert Eiffert]

When computers come with MS OS preinstalled, there often isn't an OS CD included, however in the literature or the manufacturer's website there should be a way to get a copy for ~$5 which includes the activation code. That was my experience with Dell and Compaq, anyway.

I haven't tried this, but it should work---- Go to http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/topkeyfinder.htm for information on finding your activation code via software


In the meantime, I'd make sure to copy off all the documents, music, photos, bookmarks, and passwords in case xp dies on you before resolving the problem.


Or, if there is no specific software you have to use that requires MS XP, try ubuntu.com and download the LiveCD. Burn that to CD and reboot your computer (might need to go into bios and set it to look for CD first, but Ubuntu site has the directions) and give it a fly. The CD will run slower than an actual install, generally systems startup and run about 20% faster than xp after install. It will come with Office software that opens all OfficeXP generated files as well as music and photo editing software. About the only thing missing is SketchUp (and Google is working on it) .

[Jim Watkins]

Steve is right. You should not be able to do any updating in XP with a bootleg version. On my old laptop I had a cracked version with SP2 built in. The one time I tried to do an update(right after I bought this new laptop with a legit version :) ) it tried, but came back with a message that my version of windows was not legitimate. It therefore would not download and install the update.

My advice is to get a jump drive or a bunch of CD's, backup all your files, then do a restore to the first day before you installed the update. This should restore your entire PC back to that date, changing your OS and Registry back to that date.

It should then boot normally. It's possible that it will not change things back to the way that they are, but it will not get worse.

[Bill Cunningham]

My shop computer downloaded, and upgraded to sp3 on it's own.. Got no window asking for any codes.. Good job too, because I seem to have put my XP disk someplace safe where I could find it if I needed it, and like most times when I do that with something, I might as well just throw it in the garbage, because I usually never see it again.. I upgraded the shop computer from win98 so i know i have a disk someplace.. What I have to find out is when I replace this computer this year, how do I mirror my drive and XP operating system to the new computer.. I sure don't want Vista, It won't run most of my stuff..

[Ruben Salcedo]

Here (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html) is a Utility that can retrieve your Xp key or license code from your computer.


Ruben

[Ron Thompson]

Hi Ruben,

Thank you for the link. The program "Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder V2.0.1" works great.

The bad news is it cost me $162 to purchase a legal version from Microsoft. Looks like the company that I purchased my computer from on Ebay 2 years ago, did not install a leagel version. And yes, they are no-longer in business.

Thanks for you help.

Ron Thompson

[Steve knight]

get on ebay gain and get a cheap copy of xp.
but I just checked not too cheap. you need to find a oem copy.

[Dan Hintz]

Be careful with those OEM copies, too. MS has the keys spec'd to certain BIOS builds (typically custom ones written by/for the OEM, such as Dell or Gateway), and when you try to update or install, the key will not match up with your system. OEMs get a huge discount on the OS, so they were smart enough to put in a system of checks to prevent someone from using it on just any old system.

[Bill Cunningham]

Hey !! That Magic Jelly Bean will probably save my Butt...
Cool little program, it lists all the programs that have a key, and shows it to you when you click it..
Thanks!!!

[Dave Bender]

Norton will identify ProdKey as a virus. If you want to use it you'll need to put it into your exceptions list.

[Richard Rumancik]

. . . What I have to find out is when I replace this computer this year, how do I mirror my drive and XP operating system to the new computer.. ..

If the Win 98 was OEM and you bought an XP upgrade you may be out of luck trying to move XP. You would probably have to first install the Win 98 OEM and then upgrade again but moving the 98 OEM is not really considered legit as it is assigned to the original PC motherboard only. If the Win 98 was retail, and the upgrade was retail, then it is probably portable and legal. It will be a bit of trouble to get it going again and get it updated though. Personally, I'd be on the lookout for a Win XP retail (unregistered) at a good price. As someone noted, the Win XP OEM may give you trouble.

[Rob Patterson]

Just a quick note for anybody else having SP3 issues. You can remove SP3 (like all other windows updates) by going to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and selecting the update and then clicking remove.

-Rob

[Bill Cunningham]

If the Win 98 was OEM and you bought an XP upgrade you may be out of luck trying to move XP. You would probably have to first install the Win 98 OEM and then upgrade again but moving the 98 OEM is not really considered legit as it is assigned to the original PC motherboard only. If the Win 98 was retail, and the upgrade was retail, then it is probably portable and legal. It will be a bit of trouble to get it going again and get it updated though. Personally, I'd be on the lookout for a Win XP retail (unregistered) at a good price. As someone noted, the Win XP OEM may give you trouble.

I'm looking for software that will backup 'everything' including all parts of the OS .. I have all the upgrades from 95 to XP, it's just that the XP I'm running, has been continuously upgraded over the years it's been running, and I would hate to start from SQ 1 again with the original disk..

[David Brasfield]

I use http://www.acronis.com/ (True Image).

I have sector by sector backups, boot disks, and even one machine without a CD that I can boot from a USB flash stick and restore (dedicated machine for a CNC router).

Backup and restoring volumes for various flavors of unix has been basic operating procedure for decades. Now that Macs are nix based, all the backup/restore goodies are dirt simple.

The aforementioned product (True Image) is the best I have come across for winders.

David

[Daniel Hamilton]

norton ghost works equally as well

just a note, if the windows genuine advantage WGA authentication installs with windows XP SP3, when you uninstall SP3 the WGA ( which is the program that makes you re-activate windows if you have an invalid key) will not uninstall with it

-Dan
MCSE,MCDBA,
(Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified Database Administrator )

[Bill Cunningham]

Yup!! I figured they were out there someplace... I'm downloading the trial version of True Image one right now(139megs) is this version crippled, or only allows one backup/restore ?

[Frank Hagan]

I actually think True Image and Ghost are both too bloated now and they seem to take forever. I prefer StorageCraft's ShadowProtect Desktop (page is here (http://storagecraft.com/products/ShadowProtectDesktop/).)

It was also a favorite of Cnet or PCWorld's review for its speed and simplicity; I had it up and running in about 10 minutes, including installation. It doesn't do some things, like restoring an image to a smaller partition, but that's not an issue for me (when was the last time you bought a smaller hard drive?)

The main thing I liked about it is that the forums they have are public, so you can see all the problems any customer has had. They respond to posts in the forums within an hour or two during business hours, which is better than the support I've ever gotten from Acronis or Norton/Symantec.

With all of these programs make sure you try to restore an image, or at least browse it, to make sure its valid. I had two images with Ghost 10 that were bad; the first was a disaster, the other was found during the check procedure the disaster fathered.