XP Product Key - Already Registered

[Milkie]

Hiya,

Friend bought a computer from you guys @ Novatech, along with WinXP installed.

Tried to activate it via internet..

It says the key is already registered to another computer..

I've tried the suggestions in your sticky post, but that didnt work.

Could it be something else? or am I going to have to take a half day and phone microsoft? I can't believe MS, the helpdesk is 9-5!! Useless. lol

[GN]

Well inorder for this to happen, that CD/product key must of some how been installed and activated on another machine. This would triger such a thing. Though If you phone up microsoft or email them and explain the problem, I dont see why they should not just give you a new Proguct key for free. If they want you to pay for it, tell them to got to ****. Why should you pay for something that you already have bort. Its like the MacAfee CD i got. They wanted to to renew my original licence. I told them that I have a new CD, i bort it, so go ***** yourself. Then they did. Then i got my free 12Month subscription to updates.

[Milkie]

All sorted now. My friend spent 1.5 hours on the phone to Microsoft! He spoke to 3 different people, most of it spent on hold, none of them could understand what he was trying to say.

"Tried activating XP over the internet, it says my key is already registered to another computer"

How can they miss understand that?

**** Indian call centres, everyone knows nothing and one person knows everything.

Finally got it sorted. :D

[Danno]

its good to here that its sorted. do you know what caused the problem? did they get you do do something or did they just activate or give you a new key?

[GN]

If you had to pay for it, give me the tell number and ill talk to them for you. By the end of 5min you will have your money back :wink:

[Milkie]

its good to here that its sorted. do you know what caused the problem? did they get you do do something or did they just activate or give you a new key?

The one tech guy @ Microsoft helpdesk, the only person who knew anything... He said it was because the PC had tried to activate XP before..

Basically you only get ONE try to activate it. So if you try to activate over the internet and you have no internet it logs it as trying. You only have ONE try, then you have to phone microsoft, whether you have a connection or not.

Read out the big long 25 key number, they gave him a new key, after an hour of trying to explain what the problem was. lol

I'm glad it wasnt me that phoned them, I would've givin up and givin them ****! 1.5 hours is crazy! :shock:

[g7rpo]

Could be a situation where the machine was build using WinPE or similar which is the environment that a lot of OEMs use.

Often an OEM key is used there which isnt actually the one that is on the sticker on the PC.

This can cause this problem, had the same issue with a Dell PC at work which I needed to register.

Gave them the key on the sticker on the box and they resolved the issue.

Luckily I must have got the guy on duty that could do something other than put me on hold.

Seems that you get US people on that line if you call during US office hours