After running WR 2.2.0 my XP Pro SP3 gives a Windows counterfeit software msg.

[JonvK]

Aloha for Honolulu! After running WR 2.2.0 for the first time my XP Pro SP3 netbook now gives a message from Microsoft stating: "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting" with "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification"
message (I also have a big star in the tool tray) and a black screen with all of the normal icons shown. My machine was working "okay", but a bit sluggish before running WR 2.2.0 with all the default boxes checked, plus box 15.  I had ran the Step 4 "create System Restore and registry backup" functions, but after getting the counterfeit message (which still is present no matter what I have tried.  And, when I went back to step 4 of WR 2.2.0 to run the "System Restore" nothing happens. Why the "Create" feature did not take, I don't know. Had it worked I'd probably not have my current problem with the "Counterfeit" message and black screen as shown in the attached screen shot.

So, in an attempt to resolve the issue, I tried a new XP Pro SP3 install for repair with the the same install CD that has been on the machine. However, it never came up with the "repair windows" message, but made a new install, which now appears on startup as another "identical" choice. When checking the "C" drive the Windows directories appear as WINDOWS & WINDOWS.0 (for the new install).  When I do a Windows startup with the newly installed XP program there is no counterfeit message, however, there is the message whenever I start XP where I had run the WR 2.2.0.

Therefore, I will safely say yhat you know just what I need to do to resolve the problem and then afterwards how to delete (uninstall) the WINDOWS.0 installation.

I've been able to run the machine with the problems existing, so, I'm not totally out of business.

Please advise what steps you recommend that I take.

Regards & Aloha!
JonvK

[Shane]

The repair windows program doesn't touch the activation in Windows. What it does do is restore the HOSTS file if you have it checked, and a lot of activation hacks used on Windows have HOSTS file entires to block the system from talking to MS servers.

The program keeps a backup of the HOSTS file in the same folder, you can go edit it with notepad so see if there was any entires in there.

And When Windows pops up that message it normally means that the Pro key that was used is one that was leaked on the net and blocked by MS.

But the program doesnt do anything to the regkeys or files for Windows activation.

That error isnt anything about activation but about the it not liking the Keycode Windows was installed with.

Shane