Asking for a second Activation

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Pinto, Mar 29, 2008.

  1. Pinto

    Pinto Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I activated my Windows XP with my parallels about a month ago on my Mac.

    It had been running smoothly until about a week ago when it said it had a sudden error, and needed to close. Okay, alright. So, I opened it again only to have it ask me to activate my copy of windows again. ?

    I played along and went to activate it. I tried to activate it through the internet ( which I had done the first time ) but it said I couldn't. So, I spent some time talking to the robot woman to activate it.

    I successfully do it. So I restart parallels, the same little pop-up comes up. It takes me to the activation window where it says 'This product has been successfully activated. Click 'OK' to continue.'

    I click okay, only to go back to the blue 'saving your settings, loading your settings' windows XP screen and get that pop-up.

    Whats going on? D:
    I miss my parallels. :C
     
  2. Hugh Watkins

    Hugh Watkins Forum Maven

    Messages:
    943
    As soon as your VM is running check for registry errors

    You may clean up your windows installation with the tools provided by Microsoft

    "Check your PC health for free

    Welcome to the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner. It’s a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.


    Check for and remove viruses and spyware
    Improve your PC's performance
    Get rid of junk on your hard disk
    Use the full service scan to check everything or customize your scan to meet your specific needs."

    http://onecare.live.com/

    I go in from the windows live toolbar
    MS says once a month

    I do it each weekend
    then I make a clean clone to an external hard disk FW800 La Cie and run the WinXP sp2 installed VM from there

    please let us know how you get on with better housekeeping

    Hugh W
     
  3. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    Having the same issue on fresh VM installs

    I have repeatedly had this same issue with fresh installs of XP. After installation, and when trying to activate, Windows will say that activation was successful and then save setting and logout - only to ask to be activated again. I've got a MBP running 10.5.2 and Parallels build 5160.

    Regarding the previous post. How do I repair the directory when I cant even get into Windows? Not a Windows guy, so am clueless. HELP!

    Thanks
     
  4. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    bumping this thread! I need answers!
     
  5. Hugh Watkins

    Hugh Watkins Forum Maven

    Messages:
    943
    please update to 5584 or higher for bug fixes if using OS 10.5.*

    not a directory problem as shown by your versions

    Hugh W
     
  6. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    I updated to the most recent version, then reinstalled my VM. Still having the activation issue.
     
  7. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    Even cloned working windows install

    I used parallels transporter to create a VM of a working XP install. The VM works, but once activated, begins to do the same activation loop. This has to be something with Parallels in Leopard, as I've ran it on my iMac running 10.4.9 without this issue. Might have to try VMware.
     
  8. Xenos

    Xenos Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,547
  9. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    I tried using BC but had issues with that as well, gave up and decided to just use a VM.

    Bootcamp would either give me section3_initialization_error or would not give me an activation code once I got to the screen. I don't know why i've had such problems with this MBP and WinXP; I setup a BC/Parallels setup on my iMac with no problems at all. I tried using the windows repair "tool", but did not know what I was doing - not a Win guy.
     
  10. Xenos

    Xenos Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,547
    Jwpadgett, I mean, are you using Windows under Boot Camp on your VM or you have installed Windows on the VM separately?

    If the first is true, please try the following steps to resolve troubles between Parallels and Windows under Boot Camp.

    If it is not the case, could you specify, did you try the workaround from the article linked in my previous post? It did not help?

    Best regards,
    Xenos
     
  11. jwpadgett

    jwpadgett Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    I am using a VM only. I solved the problem last night by starting from the cloned XP install from my iMac. I then ran the XP repair. I think my superdrive may be malfunctioning, which may have started me off with a bad XP install. I appreciate the help, and will keep the forum posted if the error returns.
     
  12. Xenos

    Xenos Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,547
    Thanks for the feedback, Jwpadgett!

    Best regards,
    Xenos
     

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