License problem a year after XP has been installed

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I'm working on an XP/Pro/SP2 system that's been running about a year. This is
not a brandded system, someone buult it for the client about a year ago.

I began doing network maintenance for this client about a month ago. At that
time, I ran Windows update and it installed many updates including the
Windows validation tool. Everything ran properly. Two weeks ago, my client
bought a blackberry type phone and downloaded musinc to it through his PC.

Today I went in to update his PC I found a ton of spyware on his system. The
1st think I did was install Spybot 1.4 and adaware SE. Together, they deleted
about 200 spyware and ran clean. I tried running a Windows update and the
Windows validation tool says it didn't pass the test. i'm sure it ran a month
ago and I asked him for his Windows certificate so I could validate the
Windows number didn't change, but he couldn't find it at that time, but I'm
confident the system passed the test initialliy.

Without waiting for him to find the Windows certificate, what else can I do
to resolve this problem? And if he does produce the certificate, what do I do
it it matches what Windows says?

I never ran into this before.

Thanks,

TG
 
Tony said:
I'm working on an XP/Pro/SP2 system that's been running about a
year. This is not a brandded system, someone buult it for the
client about a year ago.

I began doing network maintenance for this client about a month
ago. At that time, I ran Windows update and it installed many
updates including the Windows validation tool. Everything ran
properly. Two weeks ago, my client bought a blackberry type phone
and downloaded musinc to it through his PC.

Today I went in to update his PC I found a ton of spyware on his
system. The 1st think I did was install Spybot 1.4 and adaware SE.
Together, they deleted about 200 spyware and ran clean. I tried
running a Windows update and the Windows validation tool says it
didn't pass the test. i'm sure it ran a month ago and I asked him
for his Windows certificate so I could validate the Windows number
didn't change, but he couldn't find it at that time, but I'm
confident the system passed the test initialliy.

Without waiting for him to find the Windows certificate, what else
can I do to resolve this problem? And if he does produce the
certificate, what do I do it it matches what Windows says?

I never ran into this before.
Click to expand...

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MVP Carey Frisch has this set of instructions:

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then click on "Copy to Clipboard".

3. Next, visit the following website and create a post in the "WGA
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in a detailed post -
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4. A WGA troubleshooting specialist will analyze the data and recommend an
appropriate solution.
 
It sounds like an "in-place upgrade" was performed in an XP-SP2 OS
using a XP-SP1 installation disk. Restoring the updates never works
properly and the OS seems to believe that it is running "unlicensed"
on a new machine. The only solution I found was to reformat and
reinstall.

I've never found any malware that causes that problem.
I've never found any viruses that causes that problem.
I've never found any spyware that causes that problem.

You can try a restore point to an earlier time, if that fails he needs
to start over.
 
I don't think any type of installation was performed in the last month. Is
there a log of all installation activity on the PC where I could see what has
been done to it?

Thanks,

Tony
 
Tony said:
I'm working on an XP/Pro/SP2 system that's been running about a year. This is
not a brandded system, someone buult it for the client about a year ago.

I began doing network maintenance for this client about a month ago. At that
time, I ran Windows update and it installed many updates including the
Windows validation tool. Everything ran properly. Two weeks ago, my client
bought a blackberry type phone and downloaded musinc to it through his PC.

Today I went in to update his PC I found a ton of spyware on his system. The
1st think I did was install Spybot 1.4 and adaware SE. Together, they deleted
about 200 spyware and ran clean. I tried running a Windows update and the
Windows validation tool says it didn't pass the test. i'm sure it ran a month
ago and I asked him for his Windows certificate so I could validate the
Windows number didn't change, but he couldn't find it at that time, but I'm
confident the system passed the test initialliy.

Without waiting for him to find the Windows certificate, what else can I do
to resolve this problem? And if he does produce the certificate, what do I do
it it matches what Windows says?

I never ran into this before.
Click to expand...

Is it possible that your client's Windows XP product key has been used
by others to install Windows XP on their computers? Although I have
not seen it or heard about it specifically it is technically possible
for a spyware/trojan to extract the Product Key from the computer and
then "phone home" with the information, where it could then be used
for software piracy. If Microsoft discovers that the same product
key has been used on multiple computer that could lead to that product
key being "blacklisted" by WGA.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Tony said:
I don't think any type of installation was performed in the last
month. Is there a log of all installation activity on the PC where I
could see what has been done to it?

Thanks,

Tony
Click to expand...

Go to Shenan's links; you'll be glad you did.

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