Windows XP is a picky beast. If you want to move it from one system to another, chances are that you’ll just get a BSOD upon boot. To get around this, you can do a repair install or “in-place upgrade” to convince it to take stock of all of the new hardware and then it will probably boot up fine. Of course, there’s other reasons to run a repair install, it might be able to save a system that isn’t working because of a strange configuration problem or a malware attack.
Anyway, here’s something that I’ve run into a few times now: After running a repair install using a Windows XP SP3 disc, after booting up and logging in, you’re given the message along the lines of: “You must activate Windows before you can log on. Would you like to activate Windows now?” If you select “Yes,” which is supposed to bring up the activation prompt, nothing happens. You get to stare at your desktop wallpaper until you decide to restart your computer manually. If you select “No,” you are immediately logged out. What to do?
Anyway, I discovered an easy solution to this problem today: Just boot the machine in safe mode and install Internet Explorer 8. (You’ll need to download it from Microsoft’s web site and put it on a flash drive or something to move to the troubled machine.) After IE8 is installed, reboot again in normal mode and you should be able to activate. Note that you still may have to wait a minute or so for the activation window to appear after you click “Yes.”
This condition may be dependent on having IE8 (or 7?) installed before you attempt the repair install, and it somehow gets messed up during the install.
Tags: Windows XP
Wow! Thanks. This link needs to be the first one seen by everyone having this problem! I’ll pass the owrd
(Also, Why doesn’t Microsoft let everyone know this?)
Who knew. Been working with XP well… since it came out and I just learned something new. I had to repair Windows Media Center and system would ask to activate when logging in and just hang. This little fix worked like a dream.
That Worked!! Thank You very much!!!!!
Great work. I have been in severe swearing mode all day because of this. Didn’t give IE8 a second thought for this problem. You deserve some sort of award.
Cheers.
Brilliant worked like a charm. I never would have thought IE8 would fix that little doozey.
Thanks alot
Worked for me, thanks much for the tip. I don’t think I would’ve guessed that on my own. I unchecked “install updates” and simply installed IE8.
Worked perfectly – searched for two days on the web for a solution – tried everything – this worked! Spread the word!
NICE!!! Worked for me!!
AWESOME!!! Took me hours to find this but IE8 was the answer!! Actually I went into Safe Mode with Cmd Prompt then typed in Explorer then ran IE8 from usb flash drive. Worked like a charm!!! Thanks a million!!
I found to get by the problem of safe mode telling you that you have to activate first and to log out and log back in, in normal mode. If you go to safe mode with command prompt. Click on Administrator then when the CMD box opens type explorer in and you should get your desktop. Thanks for the info I was stuck on this one!!
Doesn’t work as it won’t boot into Safe Mode without Activation either!
Have tried a cable-LAN connection direct to Router and all I get is that b***Y blue screen; it’s connected to the Internet but won’t play!!!!! Aaargh!
Worked perfectly – searched for two days on the web for a solution – tried everything – this worked! Spread the word!
Didn’t work for me .
Needed to install updates and then fell over because there was no web browser
it worked !!!
Thx again !
I have exact the same problem. Thx for the solution !