Microsoft activation message?

I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the hardware has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

Hi,

Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you should need to
do is reactivate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Bob" wrote in message
...
I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the hardware
has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he shouldn't
NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to imply it is.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you should need
to do is reactivate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Bob" wrote in message
...
I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the hardware
has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to
the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor glitch
changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is totally
unrelated to the operating system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he shouldn't
NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to imply it is.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you should need
to do is reactivate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Bob" wrote in message
...
I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the hardware
has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to
the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

Your point? Seems to me any "glitch" that compromises the OS is a BUG,
either that or at best it's a poorly designed implementation.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor glitch
changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is totally
unrelated to the operating system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he shouldn't
NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to imply it is.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you should
need to do is reactivate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Bob" wrote in message
...
I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the
hardware has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to
the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

A bug is code in the OS or a program that is incorrect. A glitch that
changes a bit has nothing to do with coding of the operating system. While
there are some built in checks, it'd be impossible for the OS to constantly
verify the integrity of all data on the drive, monitoring for any changes.
There are some tools for that, but it's still not OS related. Notice too
that I do not mention Windows specifically, as this can be a problem
regardless of the OS in use.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Your point? Seems to me any "glitch" that compromises the OS is a BUG,
either that or at best it's a poorly designed implementation.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor
glitch changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is
totally unrelated to the operating system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he
shouldn't NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to
imply it is.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you should
need to do is reactivate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Bob" wrote in message
...
I am getting the following message box when I boot up the computer.

Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the
hardware has
changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
reacatived
within 3 days.
Yes
No

This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware changes to
the
computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp home
edition.

Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in the
service program, or udate program?

Thanks,

Bob Sellers

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Your point? Seems to me any "glitch" that compromises the OS is a
BUG, either that or at best it's a poorly designed implementation.

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
...
Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor
glitch changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is
totally unrelated to the operating system.


Excuse me, but aren't you talking about running software on low-grade,
cheap, low-quality, price-cutting hardware that is susceptible to
corruption of data? Where's your redundancy in mass storage? Do you
use ECC memory chips? Is your system case hardened against gamma
radiation that can flip bits on silicon? You're using low-grade
hardware and expect perfect operation?

Based on your logic, a tire that goes flat has a bug (defect) in its
construction. You are neglecting to most influential source of
corruption of any operating system: the user.

--
__________________________________________________ __________
Post your replies to the newsgroup. Share with others.
E-mail reply: Remove "NIXTHIS" and add "#VS811" to Subject.
__________________________________________________ __________

Rick. I think it would be wise to mention the facts about dirty
power. I had a lad who would bring his box to me all messed
up. I would straighten it out and give it back and within a short
period of time it would be corrupted again. So I went to his
flat and seen that he had it plugged into a $12 power strip. But,
the real kicker was on the other side of the wall. A refrigerator,
microwave, garbage disposal etc etc. Bottom line is not any
OS can corrupt, but a poorly setup and maintained OS will
corrupt.

Rick "Nutcase" Rogers wrote:
| Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor
| glitch changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is
| totally unrelated to the operating system.
|
|
| "pjp" wrote in message
| ...
|| Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he
|| shouldn't NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to
|| imply it is.
||
|| "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
|| ...

||| Hi,
||| Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you
||| should need to do is reactivate.
|||
||| Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
||| http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
||| Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
||| www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
||| Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
|||
||| "Bob" wrote in message
||| ...
|||| I am getting the following message box when I boot up the
|||| computer.
||||
|||| Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the
|||| hardware has
|||| changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
|||| reacatived
|||| within 3 days.
|||| Yes
|||| No
||||
|||| This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware
|||| changes to the
|||| computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp
|||| home edition.
||||
|||| Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in
|||| the service program, or udate program?
||||
|||| Bob Sellers

Absolutely, it's a wonder what uneven voltage can do to a system. The best
thing to use is always a UPS unit, but failing that the pc should be on a
circuit that does not have any heavy loads, or any devices with an initial
heavy load. The resulting drop in line voltage, even temporarily, can cause
innumerable problems.

Another MVP I worked with for a time had his girlfriends machine in his
shop - it ran perfectly. As soon as she brought it home, it threw all kinds
of blue screens (this was a Win98 system). She'd bring it back, and it was
fine. He brought to his house, it was fine. We suspected a household voltage
problem at this point, but even a UPS unit didn't help much. Turns out the
transformer on the pole near her house stepping down the voltage was dying
and throwing all sorts of stray voltage.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"BBUNNY" wrote in message
...
Rick. I think it would be wise to mention the facts about dirty
power. I had a lad who would bring his box to me all messed
up. I would straighten it out and give it back and within a short
period of time it would be corrupted again. So I went to his
flat and seen that he had it plugged into a $12 power strip. But,
the real kicker was on the other side of the wall. A refrigerator,
microwave, garbage disposal etc etc. Bottom line is not any
OS can corrupt, but a poorly setup and maintained OS will
corrupt.

Rick "Nutcase" Rogers wrote:
| Any file on any system using any OS can become corrupted. One minor
| glitch changing a 0 to a 1 (or vice versa) can create trouble that is
| totally unrelated to the operating system.
|
|
| "pjp" wrote in message
| ...
|| Shouldn't that be "all you should HAVE to do is reactivate", he
|| shouldn't NEED to do anything if the OS was as stable as MS likes to
|| imply it is.
||
|| "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote in message
|| ...

||| Hi,
||| Possibly some corruption in the activation files, but all you
||| should need to do is reactivate.
|||
||| Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
||| http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
||| Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
||| www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
||| Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
|||
||| "Bob" wrote in message
||| ...
|||| I am getting the following message box when I boot up the
|||| computer.
||||
|||| Message: Since windows was first installed on this computer the
|||| hardware has
|||| changed significantly. Due to these changes windows needs to be
|||| reacatived
|||| within 3 days.
|||| Yes
|||| No
||||
|||| This started yesterday evening. There have been no hardware
|||| changes to the
|||| computer of any kind since it was purchased from Dell. It has xp
|||| home edition.
||||
|||| Can anyone tell me what could be causing this? Is it a problem in
|||| the service program, or udate program?
||||
|||| Bob Sellers