XP Activation Problem

conzy

Fixed a PC for a relative recently... its an old iQon with a legit XP license, they didnt have a reinstall CD so I used an XP SP3 CD to reinstall it, long story short the SP3 version of XP didnt recognize the old key so I had to try crack it. The crack seemed to work but its now 27 days later and the machine is asking to be activated...

So what can I do? The machine has a legit license, but the product key must be some sort of OEM iQon key that isn't recognized by a retail XP CD..

Is there a a way around this? Thanks

Saruman

Only way around it is either crack it or put on the correct version of XP. It will be an OEM version so using a retail version is no good.
Looking at the Iqon site it clearly states the image is stored on a partition so could you not have done that and saved all the time and hassle?
Was the hard drive replaced or something?

weird

conzymaher wrote: »

Fixed a PC for a relative recently... its an old iQon with a legit XP license, they didnt have a reinstall CD so I used an XP SP3 CD to reinstall it, long story short the SP3 version of XP didnt recognize the old key so I had to try crack it. The crack seemed to work but its now 27 days later and the machine is asking to be activated...

So what can I do? The machine has a legit license, but the product key must be some sort of OEM iQon key that isn't recognized by a retail XP CD..

Is there a a way around this? Thanks

I have fixed tons of these iQon laptops. First off, did you run the PC Angel recovery? You could have also made a factory restore CD from the same menu. That would have sorted all of this.

What model iQon laptop is it? It will say on the bottom, something like 8050q or LM1M

I probably have the proper restore CD. If I don't contact Healo (www.healo.ie) and they'll sell you one, the prices change all the time so you may be able to negotiate.

Saruman

If you did not delete any partitions you might just get away with a factory restore.

weird

He did, they always do, they don't see a restore disk and out comes the Windows XP CD.

conzy

Its not a laptop, its a desktop and its donkeys of years old, there wasn't a recovery partition on it.. Its an old P4 2002 or so i'd say....

Saruman

Oh its that old? Jaysus its not even worth purchasing a disk for. You might be able to download one from a torrent, not illegal as such as you have the license and its staying with the same OEM pc. It probably came pre installed with xp sp2 but give Microsoft Licensing a call and see if they can tell you exactly what version goes with that key.

mp22

if you have the original no this might help
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=&setlang=&q=change+xp+key&form=MSSBCUS

weird

conzymaher wrote: »

Its not a laptop, its a desktop and its donkeys of years old, there wasn't a recovery partition on it.. Its an old P4 2002 or so i'd say....

Yeah, it originally came with a restore partition, I can guarantee it.

Here's what you need to do: First you need get the 9 digit serial number off of the desktop, it is on a silver tag. Contact Healo, they'll quote you a price for a recovery disk. You can pay with Debit, Laser, or Credit card. Takes them about a week to get them out. Again, you can negotiate with Healo to some extent. Once I called the disks were €50, then they raised the price to €100!

Lastly, Healo have a service where they will collect the PC for free, quote you a price for imaging the PC and call you before carrying out any work. Best of luck.

As I understand iQon had some sort of OEM setup so if you attempt to use another disk it'll never activate with the valid key.

BostonB

Be cheaper and easier to buy a used PC that comes with a valid licence.

conzy

€50 for a smelly old iQon recovery disk!

I just found a different crack that worked and used a different OEM serial and all is good.. Spent 20 minutes on the phone to MS and they could do nothing for me so that was my only option

weird

conzymaher wrote: »

Its not a laptop, its a desktop and its donkeys of years old, there wasn't a recovery partition on it.. Its an old P4 2002 or so i'd say....

There was at one point. 99% of all iQon computers , laptop or otherwise had a revcovery partition. I should know. I worked there.

weeder

had an old emachine with your problem, used an xp sp2 dell oem disk which installs without a key and then during activation it will prompt you to enter a new key,put in new key and it activated no bother

conzy

weird wrote: »

There was at one point. 99% of all iQon computers , laptop or otherwise had a revcovery partition. I should know. I worked there.

But I had no CD to use it even if it was there somewhere... Which it wasnt

Saruman

conzymaher wrote: »

But I had no CD to use it even if it was there somewhere... Which it wasnt

He was not talking about a CD, he was talking about the recovery partition which is a hidden partition on most computers since 2001.
For the Iqon, I believe you press F10 during POST and it loads it up.
If the drive was previously replaced then the partition would not be there.

conzy

There was no sign of a bootloader / facility to launch software on a recovery partition... Maybe someone else reinstalled windows on it years ago and removed the partition... But it seemed to be a stock iQon install. Anywhoo all is well now. Thanks all