No Activation, what happens?

[larry starr]

I just received a refurbished PC from IBM. The activation wizard and MS say
the Product Key Code is not valid. IBM has not yet given me an acceptable
Key. I keep getting 30 Day notices to activate. I will keep trying to get a
valid Key, but if I cannot do that, does XP pro stop running?

IBM suggested the Key is in the Recovery Partition and valid. A nice
computer pro gave me a program to read the Key. It is still not accepted by
MS.

If I cannot get a valid key I will soon return the machine, as the warrenty
is 30 Days/Satisfaction. But, I wonder what happens???

Regards.
Larry

[D.Currie]

Have you tried calling in to activate, or are you just trying to do it over
the internet? If you haven't tried calling, do that. At that point if you
get refused for some reason, at least you'll have a valid reason for
returning the computer.

For what it's worth, most computers made by the large oems, like IBM
shouldn't need activation. With a refurb, they might have replaced parts,
which triggered the activation.

If you don't get it activated, after 30 day, you won't be able to do
anything except get into safe mode.

As far as the key being in the recovery partition, are they telling you that
you have to reinstall XP?


"larry starr" > wrote in message
...
> I just received a refurbished PC from IBM. The activation wizard and MS
say
> the Product Key Code is not valid. IBM has not yet given me an acceptable
> Key. I keep getting 30 Day notices to activate. I will keep trying to get
a
> valid Key, but if I cannot do that, does XP pro stop running?
>
> IBM suggested the Key is in the Recovery Partition and valid. A nice
> computer pro gave me a program to read the Key. It is still not accepted
by
> MS.
>
> If I cannot get a valid key I will soon return the machine, as the
warrenty
> is 30 Days/Satisfaction. But, I wonder what happens???
>
> Regards.
> Larry
>
>

[larry starr]

I talked to the MS people, who said the Key I have is not valid. I am trying
to locate in IBM " the Right People ", who can get me an acceptable Key. I
am slightly afraid that in the big organization one hand doesn't know what
the other is doing.
It makes no sense to sell a nice (but cheap) machine that is only useful for
30 days( the warranty period and also the MS deadline ). A retail OS would
cost as much as the machine did.

Larry

[Randy]

Check komando.com; I think Kim discusses this issue in last week's
newsletter.
You should also be able to do a full restore from your restore CD to get the
number that way. Assuming you received a restore CD...

"larry starr" > wrote in message
...
>
> I talked to the MS people, who said the Key I have is not valid. I am
trying
> to locate in IBM " the Right People ", who can get me an acceptable Key.
I
> am slightly afraid that in the big organization one hand doesn't know what
> the other is doing.
> It makes no sense to sell a nice (but cheap) machine that is only useful
for
> 30 days( the warranty period and also the MS deadline ). A retail OS would
> cost as much as the machine did.
>
> Larry
>
>