Activate Windows

smogsy

smogsy

smogsy

Soldato
Joined
9 Dec 2006
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Hey, guys im stuck,

my dads pc asked me this morning to activate windows. even though its been installed for 2.5 years. once it loads up it just has Windows activation screen with no explorer running (start bar etc)

the trouble is the the windows activation window is see through no buttons just displays my background with just the outline of the window.

i thought id try, a XP Disc repair install but the PC will not recognize me pressing a button to boot from the CD. PS/2 or USB. all 3 keyboards allow me to enter the bios.

so the question is how can i fix this?

the only things that have changed is the Graphics card but has been fine for all of that day.

i also reinstalled IE7 as it was playing up giving me Dont Send Message all the time.

i cant repair or install XP due t not recognizing the keyboards

Cant activate windows as window is see through :/

Specifications are

3800 X2
1GB Crucial Ballstix
400GB HD
3870 ATI
580w Hiper

thanks!
 
You can enter the bios but not boot from CD? Enter the bios and set the CD as the first boot device, insert the XP CD and restart, what happens?
 
when it says Boot from CD
the computer completely ignores any key :/
all keyboards PS2 or USB tried 3 different keyboards!
 
yeh i can get into the bios. :/

USB Keyboard Support - enabled
USB Mouse Support - enabled

i had a look for USB legacy support was my first idea. doesnt have it but i guess the above is it.

But, Surely the PS/2 Keyboard should have worked? its not converted, its a standard old PS/2 Keyboard i kept for these such occasions.
 
You sure it's not some sort of memory/mobo failure thats caused it to hang and to mess with activation? Might be worth popping one of the sticks out in turn, and trying again, assuming it has more than 1.
 
i thought it might be ram to, as ie crashed a lot but when i done 2 passes on memtest and they passed

ill try it anyway

ill try vga maybe to although its was fine all day yesterday after multiple reboots.
 
Hmm okay.

I'd try running a prime test from a boot cd if possible, that ought to rule out most heat/stability/power (that hiper may have gone bad) issues. You said that memtest did 2 passes, that's usually good enough to root out *most* issues.

What board is it? Beyond what you've tried i'd be inclined to suspect that.

Make sure you have backed up all the data if possible (take out the HDD and put into another machine). Then i'd do a HDD test for the manufacturer of the drive. The 'ultimate boot cd' is good for all this if you don't already have one.

Let us know how you get on.
 
hey, ram stick idea didn't work.

i can not boot to any cd as it does not recognize key presses when it asks :(

so im stuck at the moment.
 
Do you have another machine you can try the hardware in? I'd strongly suspect mobo/psu now, leaning towards mobo unfortunately.

What motherboard is it?
 
woops forgot that

DFI NF4 Ultra-D

got no other machine i sold my qaudcore pc for a mac and these was the reasons y :(
 
A quick google would suggest your most likely culprits are:

Incompatible PSU/PSU gone bad (would have to be failure here since yours has run fine previously)

Bad northbridge fan/compound resulting in overheating. (Worth a check?)

CMOS battery is mentioned but yours posts and remembers settings so that's ok. I'd imagine a faulty northbridge would kill memtest however, so might not be that. Have you reset the CMOS yet?

Got a mate with a spare PSU you could borrow to test?
 
i could get a spare psu from a m8 but not till the 5th

the new graphics card does cover more of the NB but when i checked it was at 48c. not reset cmos yet
 
I'd reset the CMOS to defaults (take out the battery or use jumper) and then wait until you can test a different PSU.

Unless anyone else on here has any more bright ideas?
 
reset the CMOS then windows wouldn't finish loading the bars, on 2nd attempt same as before, wants to activate windows. still wont load a CD on bootup
 
i found out why it wouldn't boot the cd it was a sp2 install CD LOL.

i got my xp cd to reinstall but now card find the serial number :/
 
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