I ran updates for Windows XP Pro last night, which included about 22 updates (including SP3 and .NET 2.0) as well as some Office Pro 2003 updates.
after rebooting and clicking my account to login, I go the "Let's activate windows" popup. Clicking No logs me out. I clicked Yes, and waited... and went to sleep for 6 hours, when I came back, the window was still there.
Just a blue window with a lock and key logo, and "Let's activate windows" - no other controls except the red X.
I tried many different restarts - with/without network support, etc.
Nothing gets me back to the desktop except plain safe mode. (If I enable networking, I get the activation window)
So I figured, I would jsut do a system restore point - like the one I made a month or two ago.
No luck - all the system restore points are gone.
I thought it might be my Zone Alarm firewall, so I turned it off in safe mode, but no luck.
So the bottom line is: I am trying to activate Win XP again, and cannot even get the activation to work like it did before. Worse yet, system restore is now useless.
HELP! I am stuck without an internet connection on my machine, and a windows activation popup that won't work.
(I'm sending this from work)
