reactivate windows

aloise

My dell inspiration 2400 is 5 years old. It's going very slow at start up so i thought i would do a selective start up and i unticked a few things that i thought was safe to do so. When i turned on the computer next time it said That i needed to reactivate windows as there had been a lot of changes since it was bought. I ticked the box (had no choice ) and did this but the stupid thing is still as slow as ever.:mad: Any sugestions,in very simple terms please

bat999

Hi
The usual advice on this forum is:-

1 Run MALWAREBYTES anti-virus scan.

Then

2 Run HIJACKTHIS.

There's good instructions in this post here:-http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34370561&postcount=3

rdpro

that sounds very odd - Dell ties the activation of windows to the serial number in the setup (so you can't pass the windows disk around to all and sundry).

After 5 years, I'd recommend a fresh install anyway, too much grunge accumulates over the years.

aloise

rdpro wrote: »

that sounds very odd - Dell ties the activation of windows to the serial number in the setup (so you can't pass the windows disk around to all and sundry).

After 5 years, I'd recommend a fresh install anyway, too much grunge accumulates over the years.

Haven't a clue how to do that and wont i lose all my programs if i do? Not at all savvy with all of this. Had a look at highjackthis and it's frightened the life out of me.:eek: Some warnings there about not downloading it if you are not completely sure of what you are doing.
It runs fine once the startup has completed. Can't afford another computer yet unless the goverment up the cold weather paymen. (only joking folks honest ):rotfl:

Donnie

Don't wrry, running HijackThis is harmless. It's the removing of items of which you need to be sure.

Anyway, post the logs here.

pcombo

stopping things starting for instance any hardware drivers or any changes to components will cause windows to require reactivation possible.

closed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

rdpro

You should have a valid windows licence key (activation key) on a label underneath the laptop - sometimes hidden in the battery bay.

Hammyman

5 years old? Probably only running 512MB RAM. 1GB is pretty much essential now.

Redqueen

The following is an extract from my course material for MCSE course (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer), hope it explains:

" [FONT=&quot]Windows XP periodically checks your system to verify a valid installation. If you alter your system substantially, you may have to reactivate Windows XP.
This will not happen if you change only a couple of components (e.g. if you add additional RAM or change your video adapter), but if you change more than four major components, be prepared to reactivate Windows XP."
[/FONT]

aloise

That sounds right pcombo, I did untick a few things and then got the reactivation when i restarted the computer. Hammyman my sil put another 1 gb of memory in a couple of years ago, is this the same thing? Told you i wasn;t savvy with all of this. Tottally hopeless.
Donny how will i post logs, will i be able to copy and paste. Can't do that with the startup menu.
Sorry to be so btuse, am trying to learn and people on here are a big help. Thanks everyone.