I recently repaired home xp (re-formatted windows while saving existing programs)using the recovery disc I got when I got the computer and now I get the message that I have to activate windows. I am NOT using a pirated disc but the one I bought. Trouble is, when I go to system tools, there's no activation option. What's the problem?

open the Windows Product Activation Wizard by clicking Start, then Run, and then typing oobe/msoobe /a

Thanks, Oracle. I tried this, and got "no file found". though I only typed "oobe/msoobe". Will adding the "/a" make a difference? (I'm not at home, where the computer in question is, so can't try until I get there.

Try typing %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /A (one line) i_Xp/VistaUser

It sounds like your data is corrupted. Since you have loaded Windows etc. from scratch, the most likely cause of that is your hard drive is failing. Check your hard drive. See the latter part of response 1 in this: http://www.computing.net/windows95/... If you don't have a floppy drive, you can get a CD image diagnostic utility from most hard drive manufacturer's web sites, but obviously you would need to make a burned CD, preferably a CD-R for best compatibilty, on another computer if you need to. If there is nothing wrong with your hard drive...... See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... If this is a laptop, you must remove both its main battery and AC adapter before you do that. You will probably have to do the recovery procedure again if the data corruption problem was caused by poor connections in the ram slots. ...... A full restoration using your brand name system Recovery CD(s) will Activate Windows automatically in the background in the final stages unless there have been more than a few changes to certain hardware installed on your computer. E.g. the most "weight" is given to your network adapter you use to access the internet - 4 "points" - , most other hardware that "counts" are assigned 1 "point". If you changed the network card you are using, and changed the amount of ram you have installed, and or changed the cpu you have installed, etc., etc., that may be enough for you to have to activate Windows yourself after the Recovery process is finished. There is usually no problem Activating your XP automatically again when Windows asks you to do that and you agree, unless you have re-activated XP many times, in which case you need to phone Microsoft.

thanks XpUser, I'll try that. And tubesandwires: thanks, too.

thanks XpUser, I'll try that. And tubesandwires: thanks, too.