Problems with WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage)

Recently a customer of mine was experiencing problems with WGA under Windows XP with SP3. Upon boot-up and login WGA some of the PCs would state that the Windows installation was not legitimate. This was odd as I had recently reinstalled Windows XP on these machines with the correct volume license key.

Comparing the actual product key (using Belarc Advisor) I found that it differed from what it was supposed to be… very odd. So how to remedy this? Here we go:

Step 1:

Start | Run | regedit
Go to: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\WPAEvents
Right-click OOBETimer and choose Modify
Change at least 1 digit of this code

Step 2:

Start | Run | %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
This runs the activation wizard. Choose Yes I want to telephone… and hit Next
Choose Change product key
I entered the correct product key and hit Update
Choose Remind me later

I think a restart was then required… can’t quite remember.

I read somewhere online that if Step 2 gives trouble then you should restart, hit F8 and choose Last Known Good Configuration. I didn’t have to do this so I can’t vouch for this.

This did the trick for me, I hope it works for you.

Comments

Where are SCANPST.EXE and/or SCANOST.EXE?

I sometimes have to deal with customer computers whose Outlook PST or OST files have become corrupted. Very often the fix is to run SCANPST.EXE on the offending PST/OST file. However, every time I go to do this I forget where the two executable files are. Here is where they are on a Vista machine running Office 2007: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12 I hope this helps.

Resolve WSUS Server issue that gives "Cannot save configuration because the server is still processing"

This is a pretty infuriating error and can sometimes crop up as a result of running a "wsusutil reset" command. First of all, give the server some time, and then a bit more... but you've probably already done this. These steps may help to resolve the situation: - Install Microsoft SQL Management Studio (free download) - Run SQL Management Studio and start to connect to the WSUS database - Enter this in the "Server Name" box: \\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query - Expand the "Databases" tree - Right-click on "SUSDB" and choose "New Query" - Paste this query in: UPDATE tbSingletonData SET ResetStateMachineNeeded = 0 - You should see a message like "1 row affected", which is good - Quit SQL Management Studio - Open "Services" and restart the "WSUS Service" - Now, open WSUS

Unable to Extend Volume because the Windows Recovery Partition is in the way

I had to increase the space allocated to a customer's WSUS server VM that had run out of capacity and was keeling over. So I powered off the VM, added the extra capacity to the virtual hard disk, powered it back on, and went into Disk Management to extend the C: drive partition. However, I discovered that because the Windows Recovery Partition was in between the C: partition and the new unallocated space (similar to the image below which I've copied from Woshub.com ), I was unable to do an "Extend Volume" job. The solution was to move the recovery partition. This involves disabling it, deleting it, extending your partition as required, and then re-creating the recovery partition and enabling it. Here are the steps involved: Disable existing recovery partition: You will need to disable the existing Windows recovery partition. To do this, run this command from an admin command line/PowerShell: reagentc /disable If you get the error message "REAGENTC.EXE: Operati...

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