Thanks guys

Opt,

I'm running a second monitor already. Have the laptop one turned off.

Tried what you said. For a time it all went horribly dark.

I'll leave the pioneering to SC. Mine 'aint broke'.

TP

Ordered one - the HP site says it has a projector/external VGA monitor port on the back so it looks as though we're OK...

I'm in trouble if it doesn't!

Many thanks to all those who tried to help with my mame pc problem !

I have Vista Ultimate 32; on a second hand laptop I bought in February (I have my back up disc), it came installed.

It has worked fine but in recent weeks I have been getting messages which for all the world look genuine asking me for 'Windows Activation' or windows will stop working.

It always says 'within 27 days it will stop working' and asks for the serial number of my Vista which I don't have.

Is it possible the previous owner registered it for a year, or some such? I've no way of getting the serial number as the seller was on EBay. And I have to say it's a brill laptop for what I paid.

Or is it what it feels like and logic screams it must be - a Virus Message?????

It sounds like you've been sold a pirate copy of Vista which has had the activation temporarily cracked and it's now come back to bite you on the backside.

You'll probably either have to buy a legit copy or work out how to crack it otherwise it'll stop working in 27 days time just as it says on the label.

Harwick

Hilary may well be right and you will ultimately have to buy a legal copy. However, an easy way to recover software keys is to run Belarc Advisor which will list software keys as well as a load of other usefull info about your machine. I'm sure that there are other ways to get the key, but Belarc Advisor is so useful that you should run it anyway.

If the key is not accepted, them you will most likely be asked to phone Microsoft and do a manual activation. So long as you bought the machine in good faith, you will have nothing to lose by doing that.

Opt,

I'll download anything that makes me seem wiser - an easy task in my case!

Snag is that my Belarc would not install on this XP Pro machine and gave that not a valid Win 32 application message.

I had it a while ago with Virtual Access, but forget what the fix is.

Tony

Thanks all , downloaded Belarc so now have the product key.

Could I have done something to disable it - I was fiddling between administrator and home a couple of weeks ago (when I had a problem I sould add, Java stopped working on Firefox, still unsolved, though works on IE!) and Belarc shows this (admin and guest both have x beside them):

"local user accounts last logon
home 20/11/2007 08:57:22 (admin)
local system accounts
x Administrator 02/11/2006 14:02:01 (admin)
x Guest never

DISABLED x Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account "

Another question, will I have to change or download a whole new system or will I just be given a new key to type in? I'd like to keep this Vista as I like it but I gather it is over 100!!!

Thanks for any answers. Last thought, where do i get a number to ring Microsoft, or can I get a key online?

TP

Have you got the latest version, and are you logged in as an Administrator?

Hawick

The Administrator is normally disabled in Vista you should not be able to log on as Administrator. A user can have Admin rights, but these are slightly less than full Administrator. Some programs need Administrator rights to run, but these have to be specifically authorized every time.

I suggest that you click Start Button - Help & Support then search for 'activate'. From memory, if the activation process does not like your key then you are offered a number to phone (try not to use a cordless phone as you will have to press a lot of keys).

Should you have to buy another Vista package, then you can probably just enter the key. However, if you have a dodgy copy then you don't really know what you have got. You should consider at least a full reinstall.

Wehn I clicked on buy a new key now, after putting in my key number in the box, i got I got:
'Unable to verify site certificate pa.one.microsoft.com

Could be a site pretending to be, etc.............. Surely if it was a microsoft site this is very unlikely?

In a tizz now, does anyone have a microsoft support phone number (UK or better still Slovenia!). Thanks!

I did this from control panel system where I got the message to renew within 28 days

If the last section of the site is .microsoft.com (correctly spelt) then the site should be OK.

You may find it cheaper to buy an OEM copy fro a retailer than go direct to Microsoft although I'd be interested to know what MS charge.

Hawick

Click Start Button - Help & Support then search for 'activate'. the FAQ covers activation by phone and also has a comment about viruses erasing the activation status.

Found a local help number but not the comment about viruses erasing activation.

Thanks for all comments, any more appreciated. As I have had it working for months I do suspect a virus that my security has missed. Strange!

One way of cracking the Vista WPA is to "fool" the PC into thinking that there is 6 months remaining before the product needs to be activated rather than the conventional 30 days. Given the source (eBay), I still suspect that the product is a pirated copy which has been cracked. I doubt it's a virus.

It might be worth Googling how to crack it for another 6 months. If you dig really deep, you'll probably find out how to crack it permanently.

:o)

Thanks Hilary again.

I've had another error message saying that 'the reason the upgrade is required ' the key is already in use' but I have been using it since the early part of the year!! -:( There are some articles about what you say, but very complicated.

microsoft are charging 450 Euros for a new key!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should be able to buy an OEM package for < 100 but it will be limited to use on one machine and the key may not work on your system. In which case you would have to do a new install.

Back to my laptop for a moment, got the HP6715S and set it up with the twin screen option for father-in-law, all working perfectly. Whilst it's not the fastest machine on the planet it's more than adequate for what he needs. Cracking deal for 400 and there's the promise of 50 cashback.

I was cleaning up my Desktop and I guess I may have accidentally deleted the My Computer Icon and also my Recycle Bin.

My Computer does not appear when I click Start so I cannot move the version that would appear there (a well suggested fix) to the Desktop.

Right clicking on the desktop to get into Display Properties will get me the to customise desktop but the My Computer tick box is greyed out.

Last night Optimist asked whether I was logged in as Administrator (my Win32 problem). I thought I was and always have been - but I could be wrong.

Something is odd. I have no Recycle Bin in Windows Explorer.

Off line for a couple of hours now - but anyone with any ideas for me to follow when I get back. Please.

TP

hawick,

The idea of Windows XP and Vista is that it's one copy of the software for each PC. That also applies to other recent MS products such as Office too.

To prevent piracy, MS started putting the activation gizmo into their products whereby the user had 30 days from installation to activate the product over the internet. Basically MS send a little man with a torch down the telephone line to look inside the user's PC and match the components inside the PC with the serial number of the software which is then stored in the MS filing cabinet. When somebody tries to activate the same piece of software on a different PC, the alarm bell rings and that person gets locked out.

This was all very well, but some clever people soon worked out what MS were doing to their software to lock people out of using it multiple times and quickly developed some workarounds (known as cracks) to get users back into XP and Office. MS then went one step further with Vista and made it a more difficult to crack. It has been cracked nonetheless, and there are numerous websites which explain what to do if you've got a bit of time.

What I suspect has happened in your case is that the eBay seller has reformatted the hard disk and installed an existing activated copy of Vista onto the machine before selling it to you. I further suspect that he has cracked it for 6 months as that would roughly coincide with the dates that you mentioned above and there is a 180 days crack which is commonly used.

New machines with preinstalled operating systems generally have a sticker on them with the CD key of the operating system. Does yours have one?

If you don't want to shell out for a new copy of Vista, it is possible to re-crack Vista for another 180 days which you would then need to do ad infinitum. Alternatively you may want to think about changing OS to XP which is cheaper (and very easy to crack if you've access to an existing copy).