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.
