We have a Laptop with Windows XP that we have used for some time without problems. Suddenly we are getting a windows product activation box we never got before, requiring "This copy of Windows must be activated before you can log on." No new software has been installed recently, so this seems very odd. Is this a virus, or is it real?2 people need an answerI do too

Sasquatch, you have my sincere thanks for a 5-minute fix that worked perfectly. I had been banging my head against the wall for over 2 hours trying to get to my desktop to activate my legit OS after replacing a dead hard drive with a cloned backup image. Thanks again.

Sasquatch, I have finally got this working! The HP netbook is up and running! Nothing happens when I go in to tell it to activate Windows :(MSN works :)but Internet Explorer does not :( I am not sure how to begin trouble shooting this.

Dear The Sasquatch,I was having the same problem as some others here in this message board....by the way I'm running a strictly 'legal' copy of ms windows xp home edition sp3. All of my issues started when I had a power surge come through my computer. I had to replace the motherboard, power supply, etc. . of course the motherboard was different than what came installed on my computer when it was new. I guess that's what triggered the activation loop I got stuck in, i had been receiving a notice that I had x # of days to activate my copy of windows, but when I clicked on the yes box, I was notified that " windows was already activated, click to exit ". It kept counting down the # of remaining days I had until this morning, and then I couldn't do anything. Thank goodness I cam across your post that said this: " Boot into "Safe Mode". To do this, turn the laptop on and press F8 as it is booting up. Go into "Safe Mode" by choosing the "Safe Mode" option.Once you are at the desktop in "Safe Mode", Click "Start" then click "Run".At the run command prompt type the following EXACTLYrundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk*NOTE: The "Oo"'s in Oobe are "oh's" - not "zero's" There is one space after rundll32.exe. It is case sensitive as far as I know.Click OKWait a few seconds - the screen may blip a few times or so.This just reset Windows Activation for 30 days.Reboot the PC into normal mode - log in - re-activate Windows "After performing this operation, at least now I can use my computer normally, and so far I'm not stuck in the activate loop, I've also noticed something else that's different, that is in the system tools area in the accessories area, now there is an ' activate windows ' icon, where before there wasn't. My copy of windows xp home edition came pre-installed from the factory, and the only software disc's that came with it are two 'recovery' disc's. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens next, do I need to try and 'activate' windows by clicking on the activate windows button ?Thanks,David

Dear Sasquatch,I was having the same problem as some others here in this message board....by the way I'm running a strictly 'legal' copy of ms windows xp home edition sp3. All of my issues started when I had a power surge come through my computer. I had to replace the motherboard, power supply, etc. . of course the motherboard was different than what came installed on my computer when it was new. I guess that's what triggered the activation loop I got stuck in, i had been receiving a notice that I had x # of days to activate my copy of windows, but when I clicked on the yes box, I was notified that " windows was already activated, click to exit ". It kept counting down the # of remaining days I had until this morning, and then I couldn't do anything. Thank goodness I cam across your post that said this: " Boot into "Safe Mode". To do this, turn the laptop on and press F8 as it is booting up. Go into "Safe Mode" by choosing the "Safe Mode" option.Once you are at the desktop in "Safe Mode", Click "Start" then click "Run".At the run command prompt type the following EXACTLYrundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk*NOTE: The "Oo"'s in Oobe are "oh's" - not "zero's" There is one space after rundll32.exe. It is case sensitive as far as I know.Click OKWait a few seconds - the screen may blip a few times or so.This just reset Windows Activation for 30 days.Reboot the PC into normal mode - log in - re-activate Windows "After performing this operation, at least now I can use my computer normally, and so far I'm not stuck in the activate loop, I've also noticed something else that's different, that is in the system tools area in the accessories area, now there is an ' activate windows ' icon, where before there wasn't. My copy of windows xp home edition came pre-installed from the factory, and the only software disc's that came with it are two 'recovery' disc's. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens next, do I need to try and 'activate' windows by clicking on the activate windows button ?Thanks,David