Ive got a dell laptop not too old bought it second hand from some guy local to me for £100 came freshly installed with service pack 3 had it a few months its been fine, then earlier it said windows update available so i installed the update, restarted the computer, won't let me log onto eBay now, facebook, lets me on the car websites, and ive got a blue star in the taskbar saying ' validation failure ' ive clicked the star it opens a screen up on the windows website and theres a button that says resolve now, i click that and i just get a blank white internet screen..?

Any ideas?

 

He's installed dodgy windows mate. AFAIK unless you want to pay for an XP license you will need to reinstall windows, using a key from another computer.

You will be able to validate windows by calling them and confirming that windows has been removed from the other computer. Because you will remove it won't you

Everything will work OK then.

 

If its got an XP licence key on the machine, all you will need is the Dell branded XP install disc.

 

If you have an XP licence key sticker on your machine, then download XPID and change your licence keyto the valid one from your machine. Then validate the new key by phone or internet and away you go.

 

I kind of assumed if there was a genuine key on the machine that it would have been used during the install

 

probably not unless they had the original disc as the disc and key are linked. So you cant do a fresh install without a valid key for the disc your using.

Probably had pirated copy installed that didnt need a key at all

 

this might not work if it's a different copy of XP. HOME - PRO or even sometimes a different brand install of the same version. Worth a try though.

My guess is he's lost the original install CD and just put a dodgy copy on that wouldnt accept the keyfile on the dell sticker or probably didnt even bother with the key on the dell sticker. Knowing dell they'll charge you for a copy of the install cd.

Best bet would be to get a copy of a dell XP cd from somewhere dodgy or buy one from ebay and use the licence you have on the dell sticker. It should tell you on the sticker wether it's for home or pro.

 

Yea forgot that bit your right , The Key needs to match your version eg home/ pro . Cant say i ever hit a problem with different brands though, and ive done to many install to remember, but you could be right.

 

pm sent

 

What he ^^ said, to be specific you have installed a "WGA" update whichs checks your machine's product key (License)

All Dells from circa 2004 onwards have this unique product key stored in the BIOS, that when reinstalled with the Dell Windows XP CD will retrieve the product key.

You will also see this printed on a label on the machine itself.

What version of XP do you have? If it's Professional then you will be out of luck as you will have to reinstall the OS.

It's most likely the machine came preinstalled with "Windows XP Home Edition", it will be printed on the aforementioned label.

Using a key from another machine is illegal, and may not work due to WPA! Plus it will only work on the correct media/edition, i.e. XP Pro retail is different to XP Pro OEM.

Best thing to do is to try and change the product key with the correct one printed on the laptop, don't need any third party software, can be done OOBE.

Martin

 

Purple stickers are oem, green are retail. Now what has happened is a key has been used to pass the initial activation, but it later fails this check. You can ignore this message and carry on using the machine fine.

 

Not really as you are no longer supported by Microsoft, i.e. you will no longer recieve certain updates, not to mention you have an illegal copy of Windows!

Martin