Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: KappaWing on June 08, 2006, 06:12:21 am

Title: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: KappaWing on June 08, 2006, 06:12:21 am
I have a retailers copy of windows XP home edition from Gateway, and it worked just fine on my old gateway computer. Recently I upgraded my system and am now using a Athlon X2 Dual Core processor (with a dual-BIOS). However, when i go to register windows after installing it, it says its already registered. Then when I reboot I get prompted again and go through the same process of it saying its already registered. This happened until I had 0 days left to register and it wouldent let me log in. I ended up having to reinstall windows. Now I am in the same situation and have 28 days left... I dont know if this problem is because I have a Gateway modified version of Windows XP Home Edition or because of my Dual Core processor... Please Help!  :confused:
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: aldo_14 on June 08, 2006, 07:08:35 am
It should give you a phone number to call in the login/registry call.  Phone it and, er, explain the whole situation.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: SadisticSid on June 08, 2006, 08:01:19 am
Considering Microsoft's stance on transferring versions of Windows between computers - particularly OEM copies as this is bound to be - if phoning them doesn't help, I'd just get one of those activation workarounds.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 08, 2006, 08:39:23 am
Gateway + Time + Tiny = big no-no!!
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Prophet on June 08, 2006, 09:02:45 am
That registration crap is just so bull****. There are better ways to combat piratism. I recently formatted an older computer. It's more than adequate for a secondary rig, but had about 5 years old 95 install sitting on it and tons of programs installed. It was because of a ignorant user that the poor thing finally failed to funtion. Anyway, I installed XP Home on it, but forgot about the u-know-what (I have never registered windows :nervous: ). The computer has no online connection, so I was thinking something like: **** it. Well windows 95 would be more than enought for it, but woe! 95 install doesn't know how to boot directly from CD. At that point I was in dire need of something to destroy and left it at that. It's good for one month. Perhaps the user finds a spare cable to put the computer online.
But then I started thinking... If the primary rig has the XP installed, any attempt to register the XP on the secondary would go fubar. Am I right or wrong?

I'm beginning to think I should break in to the house and secretly install cracked Windows on the computer. Everyone would be happier. Exept Mitrosoft, but who cares about them. :p
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 08, 2006, 09:14:24 am
The way i see it if Gates didnt want to be ripped off, he shouldnt have been so successful at monopolising (flooding  :nervous:)  the market at the start.
FOR legal reasons my views dont reflect HLP's views, but CRACK WINDOWS ALL THE TIME PEOPLE :yes:
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: AlphaOne on June 08, 2006, 09:15:58 am
well i dont care about microsoft it gave me  one hell of a head hurt when i tried to install a trial version so as to register it at a later date.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Ferret on June 08, 2006, 09:28:50 am
Heh I had a real XP Pro at one point but lost it, so now I use my custom "XP Lite". I have a genuine Win 95 somewhere...
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Fury on June 08, 2006, 09:44:41 am
Any Windows XP that comes bundled with OEM computer such as Gateway, Dell, HP, etc is most likely a OEM Windows. In most cases you cannot install Windows XP on a system that does not have OEM identification in its BIOS, if you move hard drive to another system, you cannot activate. This means that you must order your new motherboard through your OEM manufacturer if you want to get a new motherboard, they rarely give you such possibility though and instead want you to buy a new computer from them.

In other words, as long as you use the original motherboard that came with the OEM computer you bought, you will be fine. But if you buy a new motherboard, you have to buy a new Windows as well since OEM identification is in motherboard BIOS.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 08, 2006, 09:50:33 am
If i didnt have a fear of apples or penguins................ :mad:
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Annorax on June 08, 2006, 12:16:47 pm
I have a retailers copy of windows XP home edition from Gateway, and it worked just fine on my old gateway computer. Recently I upgraded my system and am now using a Athlon X2 Dual Core processor (with a dual-BIOS). However, when i go to register windows after installing it, it says its already registered. Then when I reboot I get prompted again and go through the same process of it saying its already registered. This happened until I had 0 days left to register and it wouldent let me log in. I ended up having to reinstall windows. Now I am in the same situation and have 28 days left... I dont know if this problem is because I have a Gateway modified version of Windows XP Home Edition or because of my Dual Core processor... Please Help!  :confused:

Your OEM copy of WinXP was probably licensed for only one core. You may have to buy a retail XP Pro with a dual-core license.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Kosh on June 08, 2006, 12:28:58 pm
Quote
You may have to buy a retail XP Pro with a dual-core license.

Who said anything about buying it? ;7


And I really didn't know that OEM's had product activation, I thought they only had a CD key.

Either way, you are better off just DL'ing the "fix" for the activation issue.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Fury on June 08, 2006, 01:03:47 pm
Your OEM copy of WinXP was probably licensed for only one core. You may have to buy a retail XP Pro with a dual-core license.
Eh? There's no such licenses. Windows XP Home Edition supports one PHYSICAL processor, the one physical processor can still have many cores. Windows XP Professional supports two physical processors.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: KappaWing on June 08, 2006, 05:00:55 pm
"D/L ing the fix" ???

Plz reply or email me at KappaWing[at]gmail[dot][com] if thats not allowd on the forums. :nervous: I did buy this legitimatley, FYI, but that was a long time ago.  ;7
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Kosh on June 08, 2006, 05:53:53 pm
I just tried sending it to you, but it didn't go through.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: ZmaN on June 08, 2006, 06:42:16 pm
I just tried sending it to you, but it didn't go through.

SEND IT TO ME TOO!!!!!!

[email protected]
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: KappaWing on June 08, 2006, 07:06:01 pm
I just tried sending it to you, but it didn't go through.

Hmm I did get a message in spam that had no subject and no author but I just deleted it cuz I thought it was viral.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Kosh on June 08, 2006, 11:01:59 pm
I don't think this was that. I got a "delivery failed" email from the hotmail postmaster.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: jr2 on June 09, 2006, 12:09:26 am
...Can anyone else besides me hear Bill Gates laughing his head off as your e-mails get blocked?  :lol:  Careful with those cracks.  Alot of them contain viruses or spyware etc.  Just 'slong as you know what you're doing you'll be alright.

Me personally, I bought XP Pro Full and paid a pretty penny for it.  I had a GA-6BXD dual slot 1 board, that had 2 PIII-500s running in it, and a 16M Voodoo3 AGP card.  Which was fine.  But when I tried to upgrade my processors... for some stupid reason, XP kept trying to reactivate.  It didn't matter that it successfully reactivated w/the new processors, it just kept reactivating every time you booted the dumb thing up... I would've gone mad except for the Hibernate function.  Anyways, needless to say, I now have XP Corporate w/ SP2 slipstreamed into it, no activation required, from a friend of mine who shall remain nameless.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Descenterace on June 09, 2006, 03:59:02 am
Any Windows XP that comes bundled with OEM computer such as Gateway, Dell, HP, etc is most likely a OEM Windows. In most cases you cannot install Windows XP on a system that does not have OEM identification in its BIOS,

Say what? OEMs like Dell, etc do not put ID info in the BIOS (unless you mean the boot logo, which I'm damn sure Windows does not key to). OEM Windows is the same as any other Windows, except it comes with less paper junk, more licence overhead, and a different type of CD key. I should know; when I build computers for people I buy OEM copies of Windows from EBuyer.

Eh? There's no such licenses. Windows XP Home Edition supports one PHYSICAL processor, the one physical processor can still have many cores. Windows XP Professional supports two physical processors.

Physical processor == CPU core. A dual-core CPU is two pysical processors and would need an XP Pro licence. A non-physical processor (a 'logical processor') is what you get in Hyperthreaded processors like the P4, which is why the P4 counts as one physical processor and thus works with XP Home.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Fury on June 09, 2006, 04:13:00 am
Say what? OEMs like Dell, etc do not put ID info in the BIOS (unless you mean the boot logo, which I'm damn sure Windows does not key to). OEM Windows is the same as any other Windows, except it comes with less paper junk, more licence overhead, and a different type of CD key. I should know; when I build computers for people I buy OEM copies of Windows from EBuyer.
I work at a tech support which also gives tech support for one such OEM computer manufacturer's customers. They do put OEM identification into their BIOS and the OEM XP they bundle with their computers looks for the ID. If the ID is not present, you cannot install or activate your copy of XP.

Edit: I should add that OEM copies you can buy off from stores and copies that come with OEM computers are NOT the same thing.

Physical processor == CPU core. A dual-core CPU is two pysical processors and would need an XP Pro licence. A non-physical processor (a 'logical processor') is what you get in Hyperthreaded processors like the P4, which is why the P4 counts as one physical processor and thus works with XP Home.
Windows XP Home Edition works perfectly fine with dual-core CPU's. You have mistook multi-core CPU's as SMP's, which they are not. XP Home does not support SMP but supports multi-core on one physical CPU.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Descenterace on June 09, 2006, 01:00:14 pm
I work at a tech support which also gives tech support for one such OEM computer manufacturer's customers. They do put OEM identification into their BIOS and the OEM XP they bundle with their computers looks for the ID. If the ID is not present, you cannot install or activate your copy of XP.

Edit: I should add that OEM copies you can buy off from stores and copies that come with OEM computers are NOT the same thing.

Ah, you mean the copy they provide with the Recovery CDs. Yes, that does make sense.

Windows XP Home Edition works perfectly fine with dual-core CPU's. You have mistook multi-core CPU's as SMP's, which they are not. XP Home does not support SMP but supports multi-core on one physical CPU.

Symmetric Multiprocessing? Athlon X2s are certainly capable of it. Whether XP Home takes advantage of it is, I suppose, another matter entirely.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: KappaWing on June 09, 2006, 05:37:01 pm
Uhhh so is there anyway I can get out of this without losing any money?
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Kosh on June 09, 2006, 09:22:13 pm
do a search on google for windows product activation crack. You will find plenty of things.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Fury on June 10, 2006, 03:17:49 am
Descenterace, Windows XP and Windows 2003 counts sockets not cores to determine how many physical CPU's it has. XP and 2003 treats each core as a logical processor. Windows 2000 and earlier do not make a difference between them.

Quote
Microsoft has announced its decision to follow AMD's recommendations. Microsoft server software, which is currently licensed by the number of processors in the server, will continue to be licensed in that model for server hardware that contains dual-core and multi-core processors. Microsoft operating systems and applications will install and run on multi-core systems just as they do on current single-core systems.
Source (http://multicore.amd.com/en/Technology/SoftwareLicensing/)

Even though that quote explicitly mentions server software, the same holds true on Windows XP as well.

Quote
Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows XP Home are not affected by this policy as they are licensed per installation and not per processor. Windows XP Professional can support up to two processors regardless of the number of cores on the processor. Microsoft Windows XP Home supports one processor.
Source (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/highlights/multicore.mspx)
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Descenterace on June 10, 2006, 06:40:06 am
That seems... totally illogical. Maybe I've been using Linux too long. As far as it's concerned, a CPU is a CPU.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: jr2 on June 14, 2006, 12:35:39 am
Some CPU's are dual-core, ie two-in-one.  Others are Hyper-threading, which is different.  (Still one CPU, but is sort of treated like two, which gives it more power.  BTW Linux does support both, depending on what kernel you're using.  If you're using a kernel that doesn't support HT or Dual-core, and you have one of those CPUs, it's wasting your processing power.  One side of your CPU is snoring while the other does all the work.  If you run Windows 9x on an HT processor, it does this too.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Shadow0000 on June 14, 2006, 01:05:09 am
Actually some processors supports both Dual Core and HyperThreading (HyperTransport for AMD), an example are Pentium 4 EE, however also the CPU's core support Threads, most normal Dual Core have 2 Core and support 2 Threads (1 per core), however again the more complex ones support 4 Threads, so 1 CPU / 2 Cores / 4 Threads.

A good example of this is the X-Box 360, which has 1 CPU / 3 Cores / 6 Threads, however there aren't really game designers which can really make use of all the Core's and Threads, then probabily we would start see different quality in games as we seen until now...the same happened with the Nintendo 64, most games just use 32-bit instructions, pretty useless feature overall, "but hey!, whatever to increase the price of the console and our profits..."
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Descenterace on June 14, 2006, 01:18:41 am
To clarify:

'Dual-core' means 2 physical CPUs on one piece of silicon. This is effectively the same as having a dual-Opteron mainboard with two single-core Opterons plugged into it.
'Hyperthreading' means 1 physical CPU with 2 sets of state registers. It still only has one superscalar pipeline. While one execution state is stalled, eg. due to a cache miss, the other can run. This means that the pipeline spends less time idle. It still does not allow true multiprocessing, but as far as the OS is concerned it acts as two 'logical' CPUs.
A dual-core CPU can contain standard cores, which give a total of 2 logical CPUs, or Hyperthreading cores, which give 4 logical CPUs.

The number of logical CPUs determines how many threads the OS can 'run' at once. The number of physical CPUs determines how many threads can actually execute simultaneously.

Also, Hypertransport is nothing to do with Hyperthreading.

The N64 used a 64-bit data bus. These days, that's standard for a PC. Dual-channel memory allows for a 128-bit data bus. The N64 did not do 64-bit integer arithmetic, though; there was very little use for such a feature back then. Its processor was still 32-bit.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Shadow0000 on June 14, 2006, 01:31:56 am
Quote
Also, Hypertransport is nothing to do with Hyperthreading.

 :lol:My mistake, but why they changed it from Lightning Data Transport (LDT), that's less confusing.

Quote
Although Nintendo 64 was touted as being a 64-bit machine (the CPU is fully capable of this), the games rarely use 64-bit instructions. The greater precision or range available with 64-bit data types is not typically required by 3D games, and 64-bit data uses twice as much RAM, cache, and bandwidth thereby reducing performance. In addition, the cost-reduced NEC VR4300 CPU used in N64 has only 32-bit buses whereas more powerful MIPS CPUs are equipped with 64-bit buses.

Actually the buses were the exception, they has only 32-bit.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Kosh on June 14, 2006, 02:30:10 am
Quote
the same happened with the Nintendo 64, most games just use 32-bit instructions, pretty useless feature overall, "but hey!, whatever to increase the price of the console and our profits..."

Also its use of a ROM cartridge instead of a CD-esque solution seriously limited what a game designer could do (since the memory on the cartridge was quite limited).
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Shadow0000 on June 14, 2006, 03:04:43 am
Yes, that's because a CD manufacturing cost 10 cents, while a cartridge manufacturing was $50, plus due to the size of the cartridge (max 64 MB / 512 Mb, but increases a lot the manufacturing price), game designers didn't really have space for placing textures in order to make longer games, not only that but that cut the capability of using Hi-Res textures, so many game developers left Nintendo. I am surely Nintendo choose the cartridge just for Piracy, there wasn't other reasons, because they were in developement for media CD with Philips (Philips CDi)

Don't get me wrong, I am not making look wrong neither Nintendo or it's N64, remember "useless feature", useless means it never has a use, however it doesn't directly means it's not worth or crappy.

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

Sorry I was just giving a CPU example with the X-Box 360 and the N64, let's better get back to the thread.



Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: pecenipicek on June 14, 2006, 11:57:32 am
as for OEM windows, my dad got around buying the boxed set of windows and bought an OEM version of XP Home together with a memory stick. most shops here let you do that cause otherwise nobody, land i do mean nobody, will buy windows.



neverminding the fact i used a perfectly cracked version of XP Pro for about 3 years before that *smirk*
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: brozozo on June 16, 2006, 06:40:15 pm
I also have a Windows regristration issue. I lost my product key (I didn't realize they put a sticker with it on the back of your case; big d'oh), so I used a friend's when I formatted my hard drive. Fast forward a month and a half after I moved back home, and my computer has been sitting around doing nothing. So, I hook it up and try to activate by phone. I tell the computer over the line the number Windows has given me, and it says it can't be activated. It suggested "uninstalling the software." Is there any way to bypass this, legal or otherwise, or am I up the river?
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Nuke on June 17, 2006, 06:05:32 am
do yourself a favor and download linux. the penguin is your friend :D
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: brozozo on June 17, 2006, 07:50:39 pm
If Linux is myl friend,  then Windows must be the *****y girlfriend I can't get rid of.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: pecenipicek on June 17, 2006, 08:01:38 pm
do yourself a favor and download linux. the penguin is your friend :D
yeah. a favor if you want to use all the stuff that doesnt work exactly as it should ever. windows stuff works exactly as it should sometimes at least.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Mars on June 17, 2006, 08:03:13 pm
I'd be using Linux right now but it apears to have a hatred for my mobo, won't in a month or two though, I'm (finally) getting an okay computer.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: jr2 on June 18, 2006, 12:24:38 am
do yourself a favor and download linux. the penguin is your friend :D
Yes.  Don't fear the penguin.

Although, I did just install Debian linux 3.1r0a to complement Mandriva 10.2, and the Aptitude config went all nutso on me... I'll probably have to format that install.  That's what I never like; if you spend 3 hours (if you're like me and install every package that looks remotely interesting to you and then have to resolve dependencies) configuring the install and then it doesn't go right.  Aargh!  Mandriva hasn't given me any problems with that.  Darn Debian.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: Nuke on June 18, 2006, 02:38:06 am
linux might be hard to learn, but once you have you will definately be glad you did. it vastly opens up your options.
Title: Re: Windows Registration Issue - PLZ HELP!
Post by: KappaWing on June 24, 2006, 09:48:41 am
I dunno if i should post here or not cuz its a sorta old topic but here it goes:

No activation cracks worked because they are designed to crack non-activated, non-OEM copies of windows. My windows was not only a gateway OEM but it thought it was activated, yet at the same time it did not...?  :confused: Rather than dealing with this horrible loop error issue I found a friend who had a non-OEM copy of windows (he got it at best buy) and I burned a few copies for myself using a very old version of Roxio CD Burner (I find that the older ones tend to have higher sucess rates) I reformatted and installed windows using a burned CD (to make sure the burned copies work) and gave the original back to my friend. The activation went smoothly and everything is running great!  :pimp:

Hope this helps other ppl in the future who had my same problem.  :)

EDIT: And D3r3k, (what a username...  :nervous:) if your copy is non oem just google windows xp activation crack and choose the one that looks best.