Windows XP x64: "The evaluation period for this copy of Windows has ended"?

[Nait Sirhc]

Okay, I just downloaded and installed WinXP x64 RC2 (1433) yesterday, on a brand new RAID 0 array.

Today, I boot it up, and the first thing that pops up is 'The evaluation period for this copy of Windows has ended. Windows cannot start. To continue using Windows, please purchase and install a retail copy of the product."

What the hell is this crap? I can't even call Microsoft because there isn't any support for it yet.

Is there anyone else getting this message? Anyone know of a way around it?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Canterwood]

Well Christian, the only thing that springs to mind is that the bios clock has been altered since the OS was installed and the Windows thinks its been installed for over six months or however long the eval lasts.
Did you even get around to activating it?
I can't think of any other reason it would suddenly say the evaluation time was up, but maybe someone else can.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Maybe it phones home to MS every time that it boots, and it found out that MS plans to release WinXP-64 soon, so it killed your pre-release copy?

 

[Nait Sirhc]

I've had to do several CMOS resets (because I've been overclocking and sometimes the settings aren't stable) since I installed XP 64, and I did activate it.

However, this shouldn't be enough to make XP64 think its been installed for over a year. The BIOS clock resets back to Jan 03.

 

[Canterwood]

I expect going from Jan 03 to March 05 made the OS think its been installed for two years and so lock you out.

There's not much you can do but re-install and re-activate.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

set your BIOS back a bit and try that.. I had build 4015 of Windows longhorn and got the same message right after install. I set the BIOS back 7 months and it worked..Not that I would keep it at 7 months back, But I was just messing around with Longhorn anyway and that helped me to get going.