Well, that's just it, I don't have a friend or colleague that I know of that
would have one of those discs that you tell me I should get and make a copy
of. Chances of finding one are like winning or hitting the lottery. About 1
in 10 million chances.
Anyway, this is why I need them. I bought this computer from someone that
sold him this and other computers as well and I bought this one from him and
when I did the Windows Updates it told me that this copy of Windows did not
pass genuine Windows validation and that I might be a victim of software
counterfeiting.
Well I turned off Windows Update (I know, not a smart thing to do---grill me
if you must) because for one, the computer has only 16 GB of Hard Drive space
as you can see and a forth of it is used up already from programs that are
needed on there already, and I've been told that that's way too small of a
space for updates to occur because you need more Hard Drive space for the
latest ones that come out which would be way to big for the Hard Drive
itself. They may have told me wrong. I don't know. I've deleted a bunch of
useless programs on there to gain more space, but it still didn't seem to
help much as far as trying to do Windows Updates.
Heres the problem I encountered which is why I say I need to do my operating
system with the recovery discs.
When I tried to do the Window Updates this is what happened.
I get a Window that says: Product Key update failure. The application has
encountered a disk-write error while updating system components. The system
may be low on disk space. Please check available disk space. [Error:
0x800402c9]
And this error message as well: This copy of Windows did not pass genuine
validation.
The product key found on this computer is a Volume License Key (VLK) that
has been blocked.
Then it wanted me to buy this Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP
Professional $149.00 from microsoft so it would make the copy of Windows
legal. They told me I won't have enough disk space to do this. Obviously the
one that had it before me pirated all of the software that's on this
computer. That's what I'm trying to get fixed and because as a result of me
trying to update the system with these Window Updates, my computer is running
very very sluggish now, where as before it was running so very very smoothly
and fast until I started updating it, and now it's too late to go back at
this point, unless I can turn it back to day 1 with the recovery discs.
Then I get this error message saying: Service Pack 3 Setup Window that says:
(with an X inside a large red circle) An internal error occurred as it was
trying to install the updates.
Then I get this next error message saying: Service Pack 3 Setup Error Window
that has a large X inside a large red circle that says: Service Pack 3
installation did not complete.
Then I get this Window Update window that says: Some updates were not
installed. The following updates were not installed: Windows XP Service Pack
3 (KB936929)
Had I known what I know now, I never ever would have ever run Windows
Updates at all. I hope now I make more sense to you. It's not that I was
afraid of getting caught with the goods so to speak, I just thought it would
be an easy thing to do with no questions asked, but I'm glad you did anyway.
Maybe now, hopefully I can get somewhere with it now.
Even if I do get the Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP
Professional $149.00, and it makes the copy of Windows legal, would the
recovery discs work if I used them? Please answer this one for me. Thanks.
This is another reason I want these recovery discs to turn it back to day 1
so hopefully it would make the copy of Windows legal and I would be good to
go from there and that I wouldn't have to buy the Windows Genuine Advantage
Kit for Windows XP Professional $149.00 . I've been told that yes, that's
very true. What do you say?
I guess now my big big question would be this, if I do get the recovery
discs, being that the computer already has a partition on there and that's
what it uses to draw from when you recover it with the recovery discs, would
it be able to turn the computer back to day 1 and create a new partition with
the recovery discs or is it going to use the partition already on there even
though it doesn't have that partition on there already? I really need an
answer on this one please as I'm still confused on what I should do at this
point. Thanks.
Any more advice I might try now?
"Jose" wrote:
> On Mar 15, 7:00 am, 24ggirl <24gg...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > OK, I did like you asked me too. I hope this helps you out so you can help me
> > out. See below. msinfo32
> >
> > OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
> > Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
> > OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
> > System Name DELL-D163ABB8F2
> > System Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
> > System Model OptiPlex GX240
> > System Type X86-based PC
> > Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel ~1694 Mhz
> > BIOS Version/Date Dell Computer Corporation A03, 3/1/2002
> > SMBIOS Version 2.3
> > Windows Directory CWINDOWS
> > System Directory CWINDOWS\system32
> > Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
> > Locale United Kingdom
> > Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5508 (xpsp.080320-162"
> > User Name DELL-D163ABB8F2\dell
> > Time Zone Central Daylight Time
> > Total Physical Memory 640.00 MB
> > Available Physical Memory 263.13 MB
> > Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
> > Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
> > Page File Space 789.78 MB
> > Page File Cpagefile.sys
> >
> > I need them because I re-do my operating system to keep it refreshed and
> > running like new about once a year to keep it fresh. I thought that it was
> > recommended that a person do that to clean it up so it won't get bogged down
> > all of the time with registry junk etc.
> >
> > When you say, "You would be well served to borrow a genuine bootable XP
> > installation CD that matches your system (XP Home, XP Pro) and just make a
> > copy of it, then you will have something useful for now and in the future..".
> >
> > Where would I get a genuine bootable XP installation CD that matches my
> > system?
> >
> > Is it the same as a recovery CD itself?
> >
> > Please answer these questions and thank you for helping me out. I really
> > really do appreciate it more than you could ever ever know.
> >
> >
> >
> > "Jose" wrote:
> > > On Mar 14, 7:02 am, 24ggirl <24gg...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > > > Just one question. When you say, "> See the replies you received to the same question in the Win2000 newsgroup,
> > > > > and in particular the hints to post full details about your machine.."
> >
> > > If you have XP, you need to stay here.
> >
> > > It might be good to have Recovery CDs, but they would be old and
> > > unless you want to recover to some time in the past, use them for
> > > coasters or make them into an attractive mobile.
> >
> > > What is your issue that makes you think you need them?
> >
> > > You would be well served to borrow a genuine bootable XP installation
> > > CD that matches your system (XP Home, XP Pro) and just make a copy of
> > > it, then you will have something useful for now and in the future.
> >
> > > Here is how you can post your system information:
> >
> > > Click Start, Run and in the box enter:
> >
> > > msinfo32
> >
> > > Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
> > > All, Copy and then paste the information back here.
> >
> > > There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
> > > Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just
> > > delete it from the pasted information.
> >
> > > This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork.
> > > .
>
> There is no need to redo your operating system to keep it fresh. My
> XP installation is 5 years old and I have never done a repair, a
> reinstall or used a Restore Point to solve any problem - ever. I
> inflict my system all the time with malware, break things on purpose,
> install/uninstall silly things all the time on purpose just for
> practice.
>
> I believe that recommendation to periodically reinstall comes from
> folks that don't know how to figure out and resolve problems and see a
> reinstallation as the solution. Sure, things run swell again for a
> while but you have not fixed anything - it just means you couldn't
> figure it out and fix it. If your system gets bogged down, unbog it.
>
> Find a friend/colleague that has the same XP as you and make a copy of
> their CD. Dell generally does not ship XP installation CDs (XP is
> generally a single CD) - they ship system recovery type CDs which are
> not the same and may not help you fix your system when it breaks. You
> need something that will help you - not something that will maybe help
> you. As soon as you apply updates to your system after you take
> delivery, the recovery CDs are out of date. Coasters and mobiles....
>
> Yous system information looks very good.
>
> What is the issue that makes you think you need to reinstall?
> .
>