Roffen

I have a few things I need to find out about. Macrium Reflect Free version has one limitation that I don't like - it won't restore to a different partition. But without having tried, I presume it is a good backup solution. It looks like Gparted is a fine partition manager, I just wonder what to do with the .iso file I downloaded? I'd be more comfortable with an .exe file. Clonezilla my be a fine program but I find download confusing. What do I download, what can I use with a Windows OS?

i am running SP4 here since installing earlier today and it sems to be doing fine. But the keyboard is English, is there any way I can install my own language?

I took a look at the files and they had the same date, but two was 4k and other two 5k. I didnt' find waht you said I should inside the files.. But lets't put all that aside, I am now waiting for a new XPSp3 English language version from eBay, I'd need that anyway to install SP4. I hope that may put an end to my troubles. If I get problems with my Win7 I'll install Linux Mint in case I might need something alongside XP. I don't want to be tied to a particular hardware. At present I can't chose the resolution want on my video card and can't swap with the card I have always used before. So the best way to handle that would be to find ther right hardware using Linux before installing XP.

That's interesting. On my CD I only find OEMBIOS.BI_, CA_, DA_, _SI and _JP. Not any NO_, although it appears like a Norwegian. Anyway, it seems that my attempt at swapping video card negated my activation so I somehow have to activate again. Tried today but it didn't work so maybe it must be done by telephone. I've got 30 days respite, what happes if I let it expire? ETA: i don't know why there should be something wrong with the XP version that I now use. But maybe I can remove the slightest trace of suspicion (and potential problems) bying one from the offers for new and unused CD's we find on the web - and use it in good faith? All I want is to continue using my computer without problems to be resolved all the time. Although I suppose the times when you could reconfigure your hardware any way you like, reinstall and go online again without any interference are gone forever?

What i have is an original OEM CD and two stickers. The stickers obviously from machines taken out of service. So it seems to me I have the rights required for use. My problem however was that for a long time I tried using what I believed was all that I had left, a corrupted backup copy where the DRIVER.CAB file had an unrecoverable error and I had trouble finding a method for repair. But at last I found another, error-free backup CD and that's what I am using now. No OEMBIOS file on the CD. But as I learned from another thread, Activation is a problematic issue. On a new installation, after installing a video card, I found it impossible to replace the card with a different one. That sems to be a consequence of what I perceive as one of the new methods in use to control the user sphere. What happens if the video card breaks down? Will removing the driver let me replace the card? But as long as I leave the hardware alone without introducing new devices I hope to have peace in the house for a while now.

I surrender

Aha - that's all there is to it? I will try cloning and see if the differences in motherboards matter. But actually, from now on I am done fooling with motherboards, I shall stick to the ones i am using now and that's that. Then I will have more time to attack the next isue: implementing SP4! But i still wonder why I never have been asked for activation in the past?

I have been using Windows XP for many years, but never before have I been confronted wit the question of activation. I have enteret the regitration code, and after that I haven't got any messages, and the system has been in use for several years after that. But lately, with two OEM licences and two machines, I have run into some problems. I have been experimenting a lot with different motherboards, but now I have settled for two of them, ASUS M4A79T Deluxe - it runs everything between XP to Win 10, but I only use Win XPSp3 and Win 7. The other is an ASUS A888XM-PLUS that I find a very nice system. IIRC, It runs an AMD Socket F2+ A-6300 Trinity APU. So I hope i can get the activation issue resolved for the two licences that I have. Then I will clone the two and never again have to reinstall the systems. I will have to take this machine off the Internet and that is ok, I have other uses for it that doesnt require Internet access! BTW, there must be a reason that activation has become such an issue after so many years without?

This thread that I started might just as well be deleted, I don't see anything useful in it. Just sayin'.

I am not feeling quite well these days. In addition to XP /MS troubles my wife regrettably is suffering dementia and it is geting worse all the time. I don't see what can be done about for the time being. I think the best thing I can do so I can continue using XP must be to find a way of installing and reinstalling without running into activation problems. I am running Win7 here now but am looking for troublefree ways to continue using XP. Here is what I have in mind: I make a fresh install of XP. I make a clone of that so if I run into truble a quick repair can be possible. Then I will run SP4.Exe, I believe I have a copy somewhere but will look for it here before I leave. Will installation of Sp4 be of any help wrt activation problems? For the time being I do not use XP on the Internet. Booting XP now telles me I have three days left to activate (or else..., I presume) I have Macrium but have never tested it except to make a clone on a DVD. Is that DVD bootable and will it restore the system without any hassle? Will it work restoring provided the new partition is at least the same size as the original? Have to go see what I can make for dinner today. Guess it'll have to be cod with sauce bearnaise, and almond potatoes. I hope I can recover from my somewhat gloomy feelings today. I find it very difficult to download SP4 from the cloud. What would be the right procedure? I would prefer just to mark all the desired files and click for 'save' but it doesn't work like a regular downloading procedure? What can I be doing wrong? ETA: Yes, I know it is wrong thread.

I will soon be 86 and microsoft is doing its best to make my last days on Earth a miserable hell. I have two legal coopies of Windows XpSp3 and I expect to have the rigt to install and reinstall the two systems as often as I like on my two computers. I also want to have the right to replace and/or chose between the motherboards I have or may chose to buy, without any interference from Microsoft. Their last ploy is to demand that I call them, report seven 6-character code groups in order to get a code I can use before I can install my the system. WTF is that all about? It is about getting rid of as many XP systems as they possibly can, with no regard for the rights of the users. Right now I was aiming at creating a workable master copy that I could clone and use for all future reinstallations. But MS desnn't want that. Well, I have a verson running on this machine but I guess I'll have to hurry up, be smart and make a workable clone ASAP before MS tighten that hole. In the meantime I better stick to Win7 until I have got my safety scheme in place and verified. AS far as I can tell they must have usurped my computers, I run into the same problem also when offline. Are there no restrictions on what MS are allowed to do? I better get offline now, and reboot Win7.

I am not able to make head or tail of what I read about SP4 and have no clue about how to download and implement it. But as long as I can manage to stay out of trouble I can do without it.

When trying to collect and assemble all the info I might find I found that suddenly I have to ask for confirmation from big brother when booting an old XP disk. For the time being I think I will think it over. I had expected that the original and legal key would be sufficient. Are they doing all they can to kill XP? I have used that disk before so it seems like something has been done to it So I think I'll leave it at that. How long before the disk I am using here will say goodbye? I don't feel llike calling MS each time I reinstall. I'll look for alternative solutions.

Must be many years since I installed Windows from within an installed Windows, I may try that again if the need to reinstall should arise. But now I have both XP and Win7 on each their own USB stick created with Rufus. That works very well. What I should do now is to make a complete backup of both systems for easy reconstruction without the need to reinstall all my programs again each time. Will Macrium do that for me? I gave up on downloading EasyBCDv2.3.0.207, it wouldn't start. Maybe more patience is required. I probably can live without it, will try not to install any OS again. Here is a problem that I don't know how to fix: My XP/Win7 boot ini: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT I tried to copy the last line, changing the rdisk and partition number for the other XP volumes, but that didn't work. Don't remember, it just crashed or I got error msg. Should it work if I get the numbers right?

I posted to a local IT-forum about what happened as soon as i started Firefox on my latest installation of XP. Reply: XP is dead and buried for all I know around here. So there is not much help to get. The problem with XP is zero control with browser processes and thereby also scripts and exploits. They run as Administrator with full access to storage areas and registry. I can only recommend running Malawarebytes and SuperAntiSpywar (SAS). That would be a good idea, if possible to install them before going online. ……….. Allright. Would it be possible to clone one of my good XP installations to the SSD disk? Besides, ought I attempt to improve my version of XP with SP4 and other improvements?

I am sorry, i've spent two whole days on this and my head is spinning - I just cant handle all the details. I AM getting older now! My picture was taken 15 years ago. I just reformat the SSD drive and install XP and Win7 in that orde rand expect the dual boot festure will be in place. I already have a hard drive with a similar dual configuration that I created some time back and it would be great if there were an easy method for me to clone that, but otherwise i just start all over again with the SSD. ......... I worked late last night, wiped clean the SSD drive, installed XP first, then Win7 and got the desired boot options for free. But this morning has been a bizarre experience. I thougt installing Firefox, Free ZoneAlarm and NoScript should give me a reasonable browser experience like I am used to but I am horrified at all the popups and the things that occupy the browser and won't go away. It just is not usable. Switching to Win 7, even before installing anything else than Firefox, everything is quiet. It is like heaven. I will check out the older XP installations that I have on the machine but I tested all three of them the other day and they all looked quite normal then. If this is the best XP can do, it won't do.

Hi jaclaz, D: is without ntldr and NTDETECT. C: has bootmgr but no boot\BCD I have a ntldr on C: that I suspect has no business being there;) But what about the system status of the Win7 partition, is that ok? ETA: I find a BCD file on a couple of Windows folders on the machine. ... Have replaced missing files, and will try to install one of the BCD's in the existing boot folder

Sorry, no success, too much trouble I think it will be easier to start over from scratch. If I Install XP first and then rightaway Win 7, shouldn't the required conditions for having XP as the default and Win 7 as an option automatically be taken care of by the Win 7 installation procedure? That's how it used to be before, but this time it is possible something may have been done to the root of XP, I can't say for sure. I could use grldr grub4dos but now the Win7 is a system partition and XP is a regular partition and I expect I'd have a lot to do to obtain the desired result?

I installed Win 7 on a SSD disk ith 2 partitions, one partition already with XP installed. The result was that Win7 always boot with no option to boot XP. I had expected to see a menu with XP as default and Win7 as an option. In disk management I see the XP partition as a logical station and the other as a system partition. Is there a fix for the problem or do I have to start from scratch? But then, how to make sure I get what I want? Will the outcome be different if I disconnect all other drives before installing Win7?

There is something funny with this p.t. latest installation of xp here, done as 'prescribed' - original disk wih a different verson of the DRIVER cab file. The looks and feel is not quite the same, but the most annoying is login: When installing from scratch I always have created one user, without password, and that user has by default always automatically been logged in at startup. But with this installation, the Administrator is the top guy and I have to log him out and then change to my user when the login box shows up. But not too much of a problem; I'll soon reinstall to a SSD drive and will see if my English XP may be a better choice.

A (translated) reply by a moderator at a local Microsoft forum, July 13 2011: "If you are using a genuine version of Windows, you can activate anytime when activation has expired. If you cannot activate via Internet you can use the telephone alternative. The consequences of a missing activation, are loss of certain Windows-functions. You still can start the system, install, make backup of files and use other of the main functions." UPDATE: I decided not to wait until expiration date. I tried the correct codes but they didn't work. I tried a couple of times and after another reset I opted for activation by Internet, and was surprised by a thank you. Problem gone.

I don't think activating using Internet is available for XP. I made a great discovery: I had the two stickers in a sealed envelope with the codes written on the outside! Except I'd made an errror in both of them. I also have found out that nothing fatal happens when the 30 days expire, and I presume I'll be asked to register then. I'll wait and see.

Now it seems I've got a 30-day respite to register my version of XP. The codes with my original OEM CD used to work but they are no longer accepted. Could that have anything to do with the replacement of the DRIVER.CAB file? Is anything bad going to happen at expiration time?

I am afraid I have wasted way more time than reaasonable on this project. Maybe I am overdoing it, wanting to use the original DRIVER.CAB with about 30 kaputt files and replace them with the same files from a different ISO file? May I assume the installation is ok if I replace the DRIVER.CAB with a different one, and the installation runs its normal course with no appearent errors? WinISO looks like a useful program but after having replaced all the missing files, something went wrong when I wanted to save and that spoiled the day for me. I am afraid I am a purist, I always keep polishing things (metaphorically) that work just because I want them to shine even brighter. Same as I did with radio amateur gear 60 years ago, projects never reached full maturity.

I have an original (not quite true, I bought a copy many years ago, with original MS OEM stickers/reg.code). It has developed an unrecoverable read error on a section within the i386/DRIVER.CAB file. I set ImgBurn to ignore the errors and burned a new disk, and installed from that disk. I got a list of missing files that I ignored (ESC) during install: Files reported missing during installation: Kodak_dc.icn mdwmdmsp.dll nikedrv.sys rio8drv.sys riodrv.sys spnike.dll sprio600.dll sprio800.dll srgm.scm streamci.dll tosdvd.sys tsbvcap.sys tsbyuv.dll vdmindvd.sys wowfax.dll wowfaxui.dll paqsb.dll usrcntra.dll usrcoina.dll usrdpa.dll usrdtea.dll usfaxa.dll usrlbva.dll usrmlnka.exe usrpbrdba.exe usrrtosa.dll usrsdpia.dll usrshuta.dll usrsvpia.dll usrv42a.dll usrv80a.dll usrvoica.dll usrvpa.dll mouhid.sys Other than that the installation ran smoothly. The funny thing is that the files are present when I open the CAB file. What I am going to do now is to see if I can find the files on one of the other XP disks that I have and replace them. I have not tried to run the installed version yet by installing my usual utilities. I want to create a boot CD that I don't have to use the ESC key repeatedly to make it run. Is it correct that the present but corrupted files are reported as missing during installation?