FreeMan wrote:
Months after purchasing a XP Pro refurbished laptop I am getting a * in
the tray and wanting to validate. I have used every day for hours.

I tried all the options and they all failed that are presented from the
menu at the * in the tray.

Several of the webpages that get opened are blank.

The main webpage with two options to validate opens ok but both options
fail. Files get downloaded but do not run.

There is a MS tag on the bottom of the laptop.

How do I tell what the tag represents ?

What to do to validate ?

Where do I look in Windows to get the product key ?

If IE6 isn't working properly with some Microsoft feature
like this, you can install IE8. That's in case something
"ActiveX" or otherwise, has a problem with the older browser
for some reason. I seem to remember at least one occasion,
where I had to use IE8 for something activation-related.

You can use "mgadiag.exe" to get information about your activation state.

http://forum.thewindowsclub.com/wind...diag-tool.html

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=203456 === click, and download starts...

The download is from the Microsoft site.

*******

There are several license keys at play here.

1) When Dell ships a WinXP era laptop, the BIOS has a SLIC table,
and all the C: drives have the same Dell license key number.
So that isn't a unique identifier. You cannot take that license
key to a friends house and install WinXP with it. The key, in
a vacuum, is useless. It's the SLIC table that says "I'm a Dell"
and authorizes use of the OS.

2) When a COA sticker is placed on the Dell, that license key is
a unique value. And it's *not* the same key as the one on the
hard drive when you get the machine. The COA sticker key doesn't
use SLIC, and is closer to the kind of key that would come in
a retail box.

The activation server knows what it is, and you'll need to use
telephone activation confirmation to use the key. So it's not as
"high class" a key as a Retail key would be.

The COA key is suitable for installing using a
"regular" WinXP CD of the same trim level. If the laptop
came with Home, the COA sticker would be Home too, your retail
reinstall CD should be Home as well.

3) When an "official refurbisher" like Joy Systems processes a
machine, they're required to remove the Dell OS or any other
OS found, and replace the content of the C drive with
yet another OEM OS. This is the "OEM Refurbisher" version.
The license key might be unique (as there'd be no easy way
to rig up SLIC activation). In such a case, the COA sticker,
if freshly applied, could be for the Refurbisher version.
There's no reason to apply a COA sticker, unless the info
on it has some value (to someone). They're not intended to be
decorative, and are a communication between what passes for
the hardware manufacturer, and the end user.

The refurbisher OS does not have to match the original Dell version.
Windows 7 machines at Joy Systems, ship with Win10 on them now :-(
It's the only refurb Windows valid for usage now. The COA sticker
information should match what Joy Systems installed on the C: drive.

If the hard drive is destroyed or breaks, it's that COA sticker
that provides a key for a fresh installation on a new hard drive.
That's the theory.

I can't promise you what MGADiag is going to show. I don't know
a thing about reading MGADiag output. There is a user-to-user
forum on microsoft.com, where there are some people who can
"pronounce" what the problem is, pirate or whatever. Always be
careful to read the intro article to such forums, to determine
what fields of MGAdiag should not be shared in the forum.
That's if you prefer to get your advice from a group like that.

There is *no* web page at Microsoft, where you type in a license
key and it tells you it's valid. Hackers would love if such
a thing existed. Microsoft has to be coy with that sort of
information.

Microsoft is supposed to provide free support for
activation issues. And one of the things they'll want is
MGAdiag info. If you (somehow, mysteriously) got pirate
software on there, they'll offer a "deal" for a valid
OS copy, as well as take details as to where you bought
the machine. I doubt there is anything wrong with the machine,
and a regular activation process should fix it. If the machine
was returned by another customer, then something done at
that point might have broken it. For example, Staples sells
Joy Systems machines, and perhaps a returned machines would
go back to a Staples warehouse and not be properly reformatted
after a customer has fiddled with it. I don't know if
Staples drop-ships these, or caches a few in their
own warehouse. It would be better if the refurbisher
handles everything.

Paul