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Counterfeit software??? Help

Question
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I purchased a pc from Dell that came pre-installed with Windows XP Home. I wanted an upgrade so I purchased a copy of Windows XP Professional from someone online, it came with a COA and product Key. Lately when I log on I am being told that my XP Pro is counterfeit and I need to purchase it again. I still have the re-installation CD of Windows XP Home that came with my pc, but when I tried to install it, the Setup utility says that I already have a copy of Windows XP on my C drive and if I install the XP Home, XP Pro will be overwritten and I will lose all of my other programs, folders, files, etc. I thought that my software was genuine, can someone help me on this. If it turns out to be in fact counterfeit, I can not afford to purchase XP from Microsoft (I will never trust anyone online again for software) because I am a struggling college student with very limited income. Can someone give me some suggestions as to what I can do. Thank you.
**********************My MGA Report****************************************
Diagnostic Report (1.7.0012.0):
-----------------------------------------
WGA Data-->
Validation Status: Invalid Product Key
Detailed Status: N/A
Windows Product Key: *****-*****-6MWFX-W2Y7V-C7M9D
Windows Product Key Hash: iRjqAcE2WhKCxcn35V2xMB1iOrw=
Windows Product ID: 55274-640-9771731-23851
Windows Product ID Type: 1
Windows License Type: Volume
Windows OS version: 5.1.2600.2.00010100.2.0.pro
ID: 4baa1502-e501-4d9d-924b-3a27da661892
Is Admin: Yes
AutoDial: Yes
Registry: 0x0
WGA Version: Registered, 1.5.723.1
Signed By: Microsoft
Product Name: N/A
Architecture: N/A
Build lab: N/A
TTS Error: N/A
Validation Diagnostic:
Resolution Status: N/ANotifications Data-->
Cached Result: 8
File Exists: Yes
Version: 1.5.540.0
WgaTray.exe Signed By: Microsoft
WgaLogon.dll Signed By: MicrosoftOGA Data-->
Office Status: 114 Blocked VLK 2
OGA Version: Failed to retrieve file version. - 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Office Diagnostics: FCEE394C-3178-80070002Browser Data-->
Proxy settings: N/A
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Win32)
Default Browser: C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1\iexplore.exe
Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt
Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled
Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Allowed
Active scripting: Allowed
Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: AllowedFile Scan Data-->
Other data-->
Office Details: <GenuineResults><MachineData><UGUID>4baa1502-e501-4d9d-924b-3a27da661892</UGUID><Version>1.7.0012.0</Version><OS>5.1.2600.2.00010100.2.0.pro</OS><PKey>*****-*****-*****-*****-C7M9D</PKey><PID>55274-640-9771731-23851</PID><PIDType>1</PIDType><SID>S-1-5-21-1417001333-861567501-725345543</SID><SYSTEM><Manufacturer>Dell Computer Corporation</Manufacturer><Model>Dimension 4600i </Model></SYSTEM><BIOS><Manufacturer>Dell Computer Corporation</Manufacturer><Version>A12</Version><SMBIOSVersion major="2" minor="3"/><Date>20040826000000.000000+000</Date></BIOS><HWID>44D133E701848043</HWID><UserLCID>0409</UserLCID><SystemLCID>0409</SystemLCID><TimeZone>Central Standard Time(GMT-06:00)</TimeZone><iJoin>0</iJoin><SBID><stat>3</stat><msppid></msppid><name></name><model></model></SBID><OEM/></MachineData> <Software><Office><Result>114</Result><Products><Product GUID="{90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9}"><LegitResult>114</LegitResult><Name>Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage</Name><Ver>10</Ver><Val>39476F84C4B4004</Val><Hash>4iCnywwNW1w4s9ukTIwGMGxyGic=</Hash><Pid>54185-640-0000025-17596</Pid><PidType>14</PidType></Product></Products></Office></Software></GenuineResults>Wednesday, February 28, 2007 3:44 AM
Answers
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Hello ML Smith,
From the Diagnostic Report and the description you provided, it does appear that you have, indeed, been a victim of Piracy.
On line 7, you can see that the version of Windows XP, that you have installed, is Volume License,
On line 2, it says "Invalid Product Key". I have check the Product Key Hash and Product ID (lines 3 & 4) in our Product Key tool here and the Key was created using an illegal key generating tool. These product keys are commonly referred to as a ‘keygen’ key. These type of applications can be found out on the internet and they are used to create Invalid Product Keys that look and act like a real keys, but were not, manufactured by Microsoft.
Large corporations, schools and gov'ts have legal agreements with Microsoft, which assign them a unique Volume License Key (VLK). Using their assigned VLK to install software provides them with the flexibility of installing on many computers.
It is quite common for unscrupulous resellers to bundle a keygen VLK with Volume License software because they are aware that there is only a small chance that the purchaser will find out that they have received counterfeit Software and Product Key. If you go to http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/default.mspx , you can see that some counterfeits can be very sophisticated.
More bad news: Your Office XP Pro installation is showing as Nongenuine (Office status=114 means nongenuine). It is also Volume License software using a Block Volume License Key. VLKs are blocked by Microsoft at the request of the original keyholder for such reasons as the key was lost, stolen, compromised, misused, or expired. Also, MS may have blocked the key if it notices a pattern of misuse, ie, more installations of Office using that key than authorized.
I can provide you with a couple options and I recommend that you follow up with both:
1) Contact the person/company that sold you the software and demand the Genuine Microsoft software, that you paid for.
2) Click on the blue star in the System Tray and Submit a Piracy Report to Microsoft. If it is a High Quality counterfeit (go to http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/default.mspx for comparisons), you may be eligible for a free replacement.
You can also contact Dell and see if they can help you reinstall the original Windows XP Home that came with the computer.
Thank you,
Darin Smith
WGA Forum Program Manager
All Users: Please go to http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1255325&SiteID=25 before posting a question.Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:18 PM
All replies
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Hello ML Smith,
From the Diagnostic Report and the description you provided, it does appear that you have, indeed, been a victim of Piracy.
On line 7, you can see that the version of Windows XP, that you have installed, is Volume License,
On line 2, it says "Invalid Product Key". I have check the Product Key Hash and Product ID (lines 3 & 4) in our Product Key tool here and the Key was created using an illegal key generating tool. These product keys are commonly referred to as a ‘keygen’ key. These type of applications can be found out on the internet and they are used to create Invalid Product Keys that look and act like a real keys, but were not, manufactured by Microsoft.
Large corporations, schools and gov'ts have legal agreements with Microsoft, which assign them a unique Volume License Key (VLK). Using their assigned VLK to install software provides them with the flexibility of installing on many computers.
It is quite common for unscrupulous resellers to bundle a keygen VLK with Volume License software because they are aware that there is only a small chance that the purchaser will find out that they have received counterfeit Software and Product Key. If you go to http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/default.mspx , you can see that some counterfeits can be very sophisticated.
More bad news: Your Office XP Pro installation is showing as Nongenuine (Office status=114 means nongenuine). It is also Volume License software using a Block Volume License Key. VLKs are blocked by Microsoft at the request of the original keyholder for such reasons as the key was lost, stolen, compromised, misused, or expired. Also, MS may have blocked the key if it notices a pattern of misuse, ie, more installations of Office using that key than authorized.
I can provide you with a couple options and I recommend that you follow up with both:
1) Contact the person/company that sold you the software and demand the Genuine Microsoft software, that you paid for.
2) Click on the blue star in the System Tray and Submit a Piracy Report to Microsoft. If it is a High Quality counterfeit (go to http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/default.mspx for comparisons), you may be eligible for a free replacement.
You can also contact Dell and see if they can help you reinstall the original Windows XP Home that came with the computer.
Thank you,
Darin Smith
WGA Forum Program Manager
All Users: Please go to http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1255325&SiteID=25 before posting a question.Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:18 PM -
MLSmith,
You wrote that you are a college student.
Quite often colleges and universities enter into agreements with MS which allow them to offer major discounts or free Microsoft software to their students. Please inquire at your college to see if they are participating.
If it turns out the college is participating and you can get a copy of XP Pro thru the program, you may be able to use the Key Updater utility to genuine-ize your current XP Pro installation instead of having to do a clean installation and put XP Home back onto the computer.
Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:33 PM