Blank screen

damoderby

Hi,
I've got a desktop running xp and yesterday upon startup it went through the usual boot up routine and then the screen went blank apart from a small display in the right hand corner stating that I am using a counterfeit copy of windows. We've had the system for a couple of years now and had no problems and then this. Even when I press the start key on the keyboard nothing happens.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Damian

xyz123

Look here:

http://it.okaay.com/index.php/how-to/windows-xp/how-to-remove-windows-genuine-authentication

damoderby

Went into safe mode but exactly the same thing happened there as well . Ie just a blank screen with no ability to get the start menu,
Damian

bob_man_uk

when you bought your pc, where/who did you get it from?

if you bought it from a friend they may have put a dodgy copy of xp on, usually update is disabled which would explain why it worked fine up till now, somehow its been updated and WGA has taken over your pc.

ive had this issue before with some pc's in the past, the only 100% way to fix is to get all your data off using a live linux CD, then wiping and reinstalling the OS

damoderby

Yeah I got it off ebay so I guess that would explain it.I was provided with 2 discs with the desktop.
1.ghost recovery cd full xp pro installs and updates oct 2008
2.windows xp professional 2

Will either of these be of any help?

Damian

dogmaryxx

Try seeing if you can get Command Prompt to do a system restore.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

tronator

damoderby wrote: »

Yeah I got it off ebay so I guess that would explain it.I was provided with 2 discs with the desktop.
1.ghost recovery cd full xp pro installs and updates oct 2008
2.windows xp professional 2

Will either of these be of any help?

Damian

The Windows XP disc is useless without the key. The Ghost CD will let you restore the PC to the state when you bought it. But it will be still a illegal copy if you have no key.

Also SP2 is not supported anymore and you will not be able to install SP3 without the validation of your installation.

dispossessed

Unfortunately, through no fault of your own, you are a victim of crime.

The "Windows Genuine Advantage" tool has somehow been installed on your system and, as it appears your copy of Windows may not be genuine, prevented you from using your PC.

The ethics of this tool and its effect (i.e. punish the victim) are rather contentious to say the least.

However, whilst I have nothing but sympathy, that is not going to be of much practical help for you at this point.

So I would advise you that the post by "Bob_Man_UK" is quite correct and reiterate his advice. I would recommend Knoppix as the Live Linux CD of choice for this operation. The Knoppix download comes in ISO format so you will need a CD burning utility that can copy this type of file. I would recommend Burn CDCC.

Alternatively "Puppy Linux" would probably do the job equally well and may just be a tad more user friendly for the Linux newbie.

If you are feeling adventurous then using a tool such as Disk Spy on the "Ultimate Boot CD" may enable you to remove / edit the WGA executable file ("wga.exe" - I think !).

I think I would be inclined to recover my personal files first before having a dig around and editing the WGA file etc.

All of this software is free (but do consider donating a few quid).

Hope this helps,

Trevor