Vista 5308 refuses to activate. Any way to retrieve files?
We upgraded a windows XP machine (non-domain) to Vista 5308 recently. Upon trying to activate we kept getting an activation error 0x8007000 "Data is invalid".
It only once came up with an option to activate by phone. However when the form came up, the activation codes that normally appear for you to read to the automated system were blank.
We had forgotten about the issue for a few weeks as other development issues had taken precedence. Upon revisiting the machine yesterday, it had said that we had to activate, the period was over. We attempted to activate again and received the same error. "Data is invalid".
There is some data on this machine that we would definitely like to get off of it. We went to install XP in parallel, but XP at setup doesn't recognize the partition types, and wants to format C: before it'll install on another partition.
Is there any way to get ahold of the files on this system so it can be wiped and reimaged?
Thanks in advance.
Michael Gerety
[1017 byte] By [
NipsMG] at [2007-12-22]
As stated in the orignal message:
I've attempted to install XP on another. However, XP doesn't recognize the partitions at NTFS anymore, and wants to format C: before it'll install (most likely due to the fact that vista uses a different boot method (no more boot.ini, etc).
My worry is the fact that it doesn't recognize the partitions during setup. If I pull the hard drives, install XP on a new primary, then add the other hard drive (say via an external USB2 enclosure) will I be able to read the disk?
Does vista, by default, encrypt the disk on install? If so, I won't be able to read the disks from XP.
I had this issue with the second install of 5308. After installing over XP I redid my system and went dual boot both fresh installs. After doing this I could not get the activation to work. However, there was a button to enter a new key code. For grins I tried it with the same code and activation went fine. If you see an enter new keycode button it's worth a try.
On reading the Vista install from XP I have been passing files back and forth between the OSs for a few days now. I have noticed that there is at least 1 directory that I can not access on the Vista partition from XP. It's Documents and settings...
I was never able to activated, but I did get all of my files on DVD before I formatted the C Drive.
Here's how:
When you go to activate and it fails, there's a link on the form that says "contact microsoft for help" or something to that effect. Clicking this brings up windows help. So I started browsing around Windows Help, and did a search for MMC or something like that. In the next was a link to Administrative tools. Clicking it brought up the Administrative Tools. However, this is an EXPLORER window. From there, I was able to browse to and launch CMD.exe, Nero, Firefox, and everything else I needed to browse the internet and retrieve my files to a DVD, I just couldn't launch the start menu.. Big deal.
I backed it all up and wiped C. Xp can read my other disks just fine, thank god.
Thanks everyone for the help though.
Another way to solve this problem is to start up in safe mode which allows full access to system (including start menu). I'm not sure about burning dvds, but the network can be enabled and you can transfer the files that way. If you are unsure about how to get into safe mode, choose the other boot options and select it from the list; or you could just hard reboot the system and it will ask you if you want to start in safe mode or not.
I hope this helps.
-James Nattress
