Very STRANGE activation problem

[Guest C.Joseph Drayton]

Hi All,

 

This problem may seem simple, but please read the entire

article before you respond since the problem is a little

more complex than it might first appear.

 

I have a dv8000z laptop. It came pre-installed with

WindowsXP[sp2]. Being OEM, it came pre-activated. I have

been using the machine for about 10 months with no problems

or need to re-install.

 

I have been playing with Linux for a couple of weeks and

found that I can run VMPlayer under Linux. Now here is where

it gets complicated. I created a VM that uses the EXISTING

install of WindowsXP. This is important. I am NOT installing

a second copy of WindowsXP.

 

I start up the VM and everything is fine, I click on the

user account in WindowsXP that I want to use and it tells me

that WindowsXP needs to be activated.

 

I click on 'Yes' to activate now. It then reports an 'Error

44'. As near as I can determine, it is saying that it needs

to write to a file and is unable to do so.

 

Off the top of my head I would guess the file it wants to

write to is the file that contains the activation

authorization. Since the activation has already occurred

(being pre-installed) I am assuming the file is write

protected so that it can not accidentally be damaged.

 

Unfortunately, the system logs me off. I never get to the

screen where it will ask me how I want to activate (ie.

Internet or phone), so I don't even know what number to call.

 

Out of curiosity, I called a client who is a lawyer by

profession and asked him to read the Windows EULA to see if

I was violating it. He said that of course it would have to

be tested in court, but since there is physically only one

installation of the OS on the machine and can only be run as

either the 'native' OS or in the VM (both absolutely can not

run at the same time) there is no EULA violation.

 

So how would I go about getting this working. I checked the

Microsoft KB, but could not find an article that covered

this particular situation. At the very least does anyone

know who I would contact to try and resolve this problem.

 

BTW, if your interested in this techniques for running a OS

that is physically on the machine, the URL is;

 

http://www.advicesource.org/ubuntu/Run_Existing_Windows_Instalation_On_Ubuntu_With_Vmware_player.html

 

BTW, I tried it with Windows2000 Pro install on another

machine and it works perfect (but then Windows2000 Pro does

not require activation).

 

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

 

"A promise is nothing more than an attempt,

to respond to an unreasonable request."

 

http://blog.tlerma.com/

(A Windows professional's view of entering the Linux world)