Windows XP activation headache

[IHateMyJob2004]

I have just reinstalled Windows XP on a Gateway. About 23 days ago from what I can tell.

Now when I start up, it is telling me that I have 7 days (thus the 23 days above) to activate Windows XP. I choose to activate now. And XP tells me that XP is already activated. It hten boots into XP. So I reboot. The same nag screen. The same process.

Over and over again.

So, what is going on here? Is there are registry setting where I can fix this? The Google does nothing.

Help me! Please!

There is a backup plan. My developers license. I have things installed and running smoothly though so I hope to find a work around.

 

[bruceb]

You can try this first: (may need to be in Safe Mode)

Go to start/run, and type
regsvr32.exe regwizc.dll
then do
regsvr32.exe licdll.dll

If that doesn't work you can also try:

If that doesn't work, then try to delete the following
registry keys and rebooting:

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\M­icrosoft\Cryptography\Provider­s
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\M­icrosoft\Cryptography\Provider­s

If not good, then try the steps below:

The Product Activation info is stored in the files "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" which live in the Windows\System32 folder. If you delete those files and reboot, then the only thing Windows will let you do is activate. I think it will work in this case, but I strongly urge you to back up all your data before trying it, there is a risk that you could end up locked out of Windows altogether.

Just found a great link at Microsoft for dealing with this issue .. It is somewhat involved, so you may want to print it first.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312295/en-us

 

[RebateMonger]

MS also has free support for Activation issues. Probably the most convenient is to try their XP Genuine Advantage Validation Issues Forum:

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinewindowsxp/threads

First, download and run the MGA Diagnostic Tool, then open a new thread and state your problem and paste in your MGA Diagnostic Tool results. They'll likely have a quick answer on how to fix your problem.