XP "not genuine"

Hi all. I just purchased a copy of XP SP2 OEM from ebay that came with a piece of hardware (to make the sale legal i believe) it installed ok and the key that came with the booklet seemed to work but after logging online i get a message saying my copy of windows "did not pass genuine validation - product key not valid for use in your region" and am redirected to a microsoft site to purchase a "windows genuine advantage kit" for $ 237.60
I seem to have full use of my PC and have been able to download and install WINDOWS IE7 and other programs but i cant install media player 11 because of this issue! The cd that came with the booklet IS hologramed and everthing was still in plastic, unopened and looking legit? PLEASE help me!

Send an email to Microsoft Support. They should be able to pinpoint the problem.

Who knows whats up with Microsoft. My Acer laptop purchased last year came preloaded with Vista.
After using the provided recovery CD in Jan everything seemed fine till last week when system info started displaying that Windows was not activated. Message also saying 'only 2 days to activate'.
So I tried to activate immediately, only to be told key cant be activated.
Now this week it says '8 days to activate'. Everything seems to be working fine otherwise, so have done nothing. Strange....

Thanks all for your input.I'll email microsoft.
Hemantdhyani can you tell me if i do what you suggested will this allow me to use media player etc... or will it just get rid of the "windows genuine notification message"?

megabomination, you paid for a product that is supposed to be genuine.

Find out from Microsoft Support , whether it is truly genuine for your region. If it is, they'll have to solve your problem.

If not, go after the guy who sold it to you.

Please keep us informed as to how the issue is resolved. We have had bad luck with a lot of Microsoft programs purchased on eBay, but mainly Office and Visio.

We do find that when you telephone Microsoft and get the Canadian office, they are helpful in resolving the issue.

Thanks.I questioned the seller of the software as to why it isnt genuine and without a response he immediatley refunded my money!? Which tells me (maybe im paranoid) that he knew it wasnt genuine or wouldnt pass validation for my region! Anyway i would like to see if i can validate this copy of windows or at least find out the excact reason why it isnt genuine for my own knowledge so i guess ill try to contact ms and go from there. Thanks all for your help. If you have any more input it would be greatly appreciated!

Windows OS's are somewhat region specific. If the OS was intended for example Latin America or more likely an asian market then it won't pass validation in Australasia or "Rest of the World" marketplace. A quick check of the COA product code should verify what market the OS is for.

Interesting if true. Interesting if not true. We have not experience that problem is computers for our Brazilian, Scotland, or Dubai folks.

"Life sucks, and then you start shopping on Ebay".

Have run across similar tales to this:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1222227.html

Also, Australia and New Zealand seem to be dumping grounds for region specific Vista/Win7 and Office variations (usually manufacturing part numbers produced in Puerto Rico for Canada/U.S. market. These cannot be activated in New Zealand). Whether or not XP is truly region coded or is a catch-all answer I'm not sure

Here's a thread that is interesting and applicatble

[edit]
still more informative
[/edit]

Thanks jobeard and DBZ. I've been a little busy but have tried to email MS with my problem with no responce as yet!? Something else that i think may be relivent is the fact that the COA sticker on the back of the booklet has what seems to be two roundish holes a little smaller than a five cent piece removed from it, possibly scratched off, and im wondering if there may have been something written there? It did come wrapped in plastic that looked genuine? Im having trouble trying to attach a picture of it! Can i have some help please.

Are you sure the photo you're trying to attach is under the maximum allowed size? I think it's 150KB, but I'm not certain.

Its 1.85 MB ? But thats not what i ment. Iknow this may sound lame but im not sure what to type in as its URL location.....in fact what does URL mean lol. The picture is in my pictures folder of my PC so what would be the path?

Directly under the tabs at the top of the page (blue tab "Forum" if you're viewing this) you'll see a link "Picture Gallery" - if you click that, and on the page it takes you to, you will see "Upload photo's" on the upper right hand side of the page. You then hit the "browse" button to locate the picture and then upload. When posting, click the "Insert image" icon in the message box to add the URL (or direct link if possible...bit of a guess on my part as I've never used Techspot's gallery feature!)

This is the pictures location anyway!


Sorry that didnt work. The pic is in ' home\members galleries\megabomination'

check may be license will be valid for specific period .

just search google the app name : wga remover..

not a bigge also..

reply to "xp not genuine"

you can use the app remover process for wga, but be aware that you won't be able to do a system restore to or past that point without doing it all over again...