The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #152130 Message #3556526
Posted By: JHW
06-Sep-13 - 06:38 AM
Thread Name: Tech: Genuine Windows?!?!
Subject: Tech: Genuine Windows?!?!
I bought this 2nd hand laptop last year. HP dual core Intel and 'designed for ms Windows XP'.
I prefer the full height screen and XP.
Been fine till this week when I get a Microsoft message on start up saying 'this Windows may not be genuine' and other boxes. Then it blacks out my desktop picture. I've been to a multitude of Windows validation pages but none lead anywhere. Even when I'm in IE it demands a Firefox WGA plug in. Tried that, won't install. Copying the url back into IE I got to a page saying 'type in your product key' I have that on the underside of the mc, looks original to me - but the page had NO BOX to type it in!
While I'm typing this, up has come another Windows Genuine Advantage box offering the lie of validation or Buy a License. So I tried Buy a License but it just took me back to the uninstallable WGA plug in.
An earlier page said they wouldn't sell me XP anyway! I bought this laptop because I've seen other folks 7 and 8.
What finally prompted this thread was I somehow got a screen saying Validating, a green thing going round and a message saying 'this may take a few minutes - do not navigate away from this page' I had a cup of tea, a shower, another cup of tea then gave up on it still going round and decided I'd get more sense from Mudcatters than Bill Gates. I'm incensed by the dog in the manger attitude of putting the mockers on my machine NOW. It came with 3 months guarantee but that's long gone.
Thee is a tick box offered to turn off the 'notifications' No knowing if it will work but that states that doing that will turn off the XP updates. I know they'll end next April anyway.
Any ideas please? Many thanks.