I am frustrated; I received a warning (several times) in a small horizontal box claiming that my Windows XP (with SP 3) needs reauthorization within three days, since my hardware has changed. It has not, although I have been doing some file cleanup lately in an effort to get rid of an apparent virus (although Windows Security, AVG Free and Spyware Dictor can't seem to get rid of it - they clean everything except 3, 4 or 5 files). I know there are many viruses and trojans masquerading as MS asking this kind of stuff, and the page it refers me to claims to be legit Microsoft, but I'm not sure - the background color is off, and in my system tray (bottom right) the icon for the warning was a star symbol. (It seems to have disappeared now.) Complication: I don't know where my original software is, so I can't find the original authorization number. The computer is lefitimate (this is the first thing like this in the 4+ year's I've had it) although it was assembled by a local computer shop (with 31 year's accredited experience). What do I do without having to pay to solve a problem I didn't create? According to the warning, I have just two days left to do it in, whatever "it" is. One more thing - I don't know much "computerese," so please offer any help in layman's language if you could. (I follow by rote quite well....)

Windows Genuine Advantage - Diagnostic Site - http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/diag/ Possible causes of WGA validation failure - http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/facts.mspx?displaylang=en MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!