Convoluted XP activation question

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:15 am

New (to me) desktop with Gigabyte MB.
Old XP install SATA HDD.

Would get the XP splash screen, then quick blue screen, loop back to splash.

Genuine XP Pro installation disc.

I guess I could always re-install, but it'll boot just fine.
Is asking for activation and won't let me log on without it (whatever happened to 30 days?)

Have the original product key.
Try to activate and, without updating the ethernet drivers, I can't. Everyone says don't bother calling the phone number unless you have 10 hours and it still won't work.
What does seem to work is booting into safe mode (which I guess bypasses the activation) long enough to update the ethernet drivers, at which point Windows activation online WILL work.
Have the drivers on disc.

My problem: I can't get into safe mode without getting into Windows. Can get to the BIOS fine. F8 is suppoes to get you to safe mode with most MB but not Gigabyte.

Suggestions?
Thanks

The Dude · Post by **The Dude** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:32 am

I ran into a similar issue on my ASUS desktop motherboards. F8 is the BIOS Quick Boot menu key. A very poor choice if you ask me. It makes it a pain to get into Windows safe mode. If I press it to quick during boot up I get the BIOS menu. If I wait to long Windows boots up normally. Timing is everything. I can disable the Quick Boot menu to make getting into safe mode easier. What F8 does in the BIOS has nothing to do with what it does during Windows boot up. F8 is Safe Mode, it just depends on when you press the key.

I've done the phone activation and it was relatively pain less. I didn't even have to talk to a real person, all automated. It's a little tedious reading in all the codes but didn't take all that long. I've done it for XP and Vista.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 7:50 am

Just call up...it's not 10 hours....we do it quite frequently...typically under 10 minutes total.
Although haven't done it with XP in quite some time..since it's retired...dunno if they still have that activation process available via phone. Worth a couple of minutes to try though.

RaisinCain · Post by **RaisinCain** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:12 am

Let it boot to the desktop and then just hit the power button. Should boot with the options screen allowing you to choose Safe Mode w/ Networking.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:00 am

Humboldt wrote:

Is asking for activation and won't let me log on without it (whatever happened to 30 days?)

I can't get to the desktop.

Post by **Philip** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:41 pm

Just call them and see, I did it for Windows 7 lappy in about 10 minutes yesterday.

Other than that, just interrupt the startup with the reset button and you should get the option to boot in safe mode.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:48 pm

Philip wrote:Just call them and see, I did it for Windows 7 lappy in about 10 minutes yesterday.

Other than that, just interrupt the startup with the reset button and you should get the option to boot in safe mode.

Reset button, as in next to the power button on the case?

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:25 am

Philip wrote:Just call them and see, I did it for Windows 7 lappy in about 10 minutes yesterday.

Other than that, just interrupt the startup with the reset button and you should get the option to boot in safe mode.

Nope, that just gets me to the same thing as F8, Gigabyte Xpress2 Recovery. Gives an option of backup or reboot.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:53 am

Finally got into safe mode (w/ Gigabyte you have to time it after BIOS but before Windows)
Updated Ethernet, got connectivity.

Unlike others, still couldn't activate XP.

Re-formatted, clean XP install, entered product key, activaed, all good. Internet connection is fine.

Newest issue? Can't decompress anything, I guess.
Java update fails because it can't install.
GPU drivers> Can't install (failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect.)

These are .exe files, but guessing they're compressed .exe.

C++ issue?

Suggestions appreciated, thanks.

rickoic · Post by **rickoic** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:40 am

Think your running into the problem I had with a friend's computer. XP no longer being supported by current drivers or updates. You'll probably have to get a decompression program separately and use it. Java may have stopped supporting XP entirely so have no idea what you can do there. GPU drivers, you'll probably have to go back to older drivers and not update them to get them to operate correctly.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:45 pm

rickoic wrote:Think your running into the problem I had with a friend's computer. XP no longer being supported by current drivers or updates. You'll probably have to get a decompression program separately and use it. Java may have stopped supporting XP entirely so have no idea what you can do there. GPU drivers, you'll probably have to go back to older drivers and not update them to get them to operate correctly.

Hi Rickoic, hope you're well.

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried WinRar last night and made no difference. From what I'm reading there's a C++ package I need to install. Will see if that helps.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:05 pm

rickoic wrote:Think your running into the problem I had with a friend's computer. XP no longer being supported by current drivers or updates. You'll probably have to get a decompression program separately and use it. Java may have stopped supporting XP entirely so have no idea what you can do there. GPU drivers, you'll probably have to go back to older drivers and not update them to get them to operate correctly.

Got it http://support.kaspersky.com/7142

Found other sites that just had the first package, didn't help at all.
Found this and installed both in the order listed, now the Nvidia driver opens at least.
Is asking for the Windows Imaging Component for .NET Framework, but at least it got this far.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:30 pm

Installing XP SP3 now.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 4:14 pm

Good to go, Nvidia driver installation just completed.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 4:29 pm

Up and running, folding is working fine

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 4:50 pm

All that to run an old XP rig for folding, are those even effective anymore, i thought they moved on to bigger blocks that only the GPUs are effective at now?

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:21 pm

YARDofSTUF wrote:All that to run an old XP rig for folding, are those even effective anymore, i thought they moved on to bigger blocks that only the GPUs are effective at now?

Hey

Hope you're well.

14 years and you're still not reading the whole thread before responding, eh?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:17 am

Re: Java probably have to find the last version that was able to install on XP...one of the late version 6 or somewhere in the version 7 range. It's up to 8 now but on Javas site you can find previous versions somewhere.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:01 pm

Humboldt wrote:Hey Hope you're well.

14 years and you're still not reading the whole thread before responding, eh?

You have it backwards, I started out reading the whole thread, and evolved to read only bits that catch my eye.