Solved: Activation -- Lost ??

On my new XP/Pro system, if I enter ...

All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Activate Windows

.... it tells me that Windows is already activated. Great!!

I've just reloaded XP/Home in my old system, and there is no apparent way to activate the operating system. The "Activate Windows" item just isn't on the System Tools menu. All the Microsoft help and KB articles seem to assume that it would be there.

Now, somewhere up there in MS Land someone must like me, because I've just downloaded and applied over 90 patches to the basic Windows XP/SP2 OS ... and not once did it ask me about activation.

I'm going to give this computer to a computer novice in the next week or two. And she will not know what to do if she is asked about "activation."
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Opps ... I'm the one that is lost! Just found out that using the Run command I can enter "oobe/msoobe /a" and it bring up the Activation window.

The strange thing is that it says the system is activated. I KNOW I didn't activate it, so that remains a mystery, but apparently it is no problem that requires solving.

I've been fooling around with computer all my life and at times they are a total mystery to me. Oh well ....

Is this something I should be concerned with?

 

What is the make and model of the computer in question?

Was this the legal recovery software for the computer?

Some computers that are OEM the software automatically authenticates its self or is already authenticated. Going to the OEM web site and checking thru the FAQ's or tech support should be able to find out if this is the case....

 

The computer is a Gateway 700SE that I purchase in July 2002. Gateway provided excellent support to the computer until about a year ago, when they found out that I had added two hard disk drives and 1GB of RDRAM -- all procured from sources other than Gateway. They have since flagged the serial number of my computer and I can get nothing out of them.

The "Gateway Operating System - Windows XP - Home Edition" CD was obviously produced by Gateway, but, having installed XP before on other systems, the installation seemed very normal. Prior to the OS restoration I used Darik's Boot and Nuke, from a floppy drive (the floppy runs a small Linix OS) to completely wipe clean the three hard disks.

Indeed, I didn't even plug in an Ethernet cable until AFTER I had installed the SP2 disk (which I had obtained directly from Microsoft). During the process, there were no pop-ups asking me to telephone the activation, or plug in an Internet connection.

Maybe it had some little task lurking in the background just waiting for an Internet connection. Maybe ....

Anyway, it does not appear to be a problem. Sorry for the bother.