Guest Trash Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Hi, A few months ago my hard drive failed and I had to have a new one installed which the local shop did whilst upgrading some other parts. I got it back and all was fine until a recent windows update. After the update, whenever I start the PC up, I get a message before Windows comes on telling me that the Windows I am using is not a geniune version and that I can either buy a security key or do it later. If you do it later Windows (it's XP) still works fine but you get the little bubble pop up occasionally at the bottom of the screen saying it is not genuine and since it tells me it is not genuine it won't let me use Windows Media Player (won't let me upgrade it either) as it is not a genuine version. The hard drive that failed me was in a PC built by myself and when I built it I bought Windows XP, which I still have. Obviously when they put the replacement drive in they used their copied version of windows on the system. Nothing is majorly wrong and it still works, but it does bug me somewhat! I do have my original Windows XP disc here and my security key (which I can't seem to add to this windows on here to make it a genuine one....they want me to buy it for 90 quid or whatever it is). Is there any way I can add my security key which I bought and paid for originally? Also, can I install my windows disc over the top of the one on here already and do it that way? Is it a tricky process and would it wipe all the other stuff off the computer or would all the icons/programmes etc still be there once I have done it? Cheers Trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M48 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 If you boot up the pc with the XP cd in the drive you should get a menu with an option to reinstall windows whilst still keeping all of your programs and files intact but I'd still backup all of your important stuff in case it all goes wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F2-Fan Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 All I can say is that wherever you took it to be fixed that is really bad of them. By rights they should have asked you for your original operating cd. I wonder how many pc's they have sold with dodgy copies of windows XP on or rather dodgy copies of vista on. I would at least go back and explain what they have done and get them to back up your stuff and then reinstall, its there fault they should really fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 yep tooz fan is right . I had to do same with my pc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruiz 136 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 If you boot up the pc with the XP cd in the drive you should get a menu with an option to reinstall windows whilst still keeping all of your programs and files intact but I'd still backup all of your important stuff in case it all goes wrong. Be cautious when doing that, as when i did it last time i got it stuck in safe mode for a week, because of some drivers that had been corrupted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesy Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 i just reinstalled xp over the top,had no problems here.i just started up comp as normal then stuck the disc and reinstalled it,never lost out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Try this Trash,it has a key changer option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trash Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Thanks for the replies and also to Dino for his help via PM. I have had to install my windows disc and backed up what I thought was important....however(!).... I didnt back up any icons or folders that were on the desktop. One folder I had contained all the launch icons for the Heat mods. These have now disappeared. I have all the game files in the usual place in the hasbro folder on the hard drive....but how do I go about either getting back.....or making an icon to get me into the game. I looked through the ukdirtbangers folder but couldn't find an .exe file to get into it. I found the car manager in there which works fine. Hopefully I don't have to do a complete download/install! Cheers Trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Use the mod launcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trash Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Use the mod launcher Top man as always Dino, thanks for all the help....all sorted now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trash Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Dammit, knew I had spoken too soon!! Everything is fine....except for the slight problem that I don't have any sound! It says my sound card drivers are up to date but there is a yellow question mark against something else called a "multimedia audio controller". I tried updating drivers for this....it said none could be found. I tried disabling it as well but still nothing sound wise. Any idea's as to what it might actually be? Cheers Trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F2-Fan Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Do you have all the software installed that came with your sound card. I know it may seem silly but I had a similar problem ages ago when I put on all the software that came with my sound card it cleared it up and fixed whatever was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trash Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Thanks for the reply, sound stuff all sorted now thanks to lakey. Had to take the soundcard out, get the exact model number, then download the right driver and hey presto. Cheers Lakey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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