Stella installed update today and her PC crashed ????

[Guest]

Poor Stella installed a update on her Vista PC today and logged off to complete the installation but when it came back she had a error message to say she had to put the recovery disc in which she doesnt have???
Any ideas why this would happen ??? she is now PC less till her friend gets the disc for her.

[Grampa Jim]

When we tried to update as informed by Microsoft we discovered that our copy of Windows is not genuine.

[Guest]

You wont believe it but my laptop has just gone off completely???? I'm now out here in the garage on my pc hope it doesnt crash cannot bear the thought of being indoors all weekend watching Tom watching the TV
Did you find out why it said that Grampa Jim ??

[Grampa Jim]

Our PC is a third hand hand-me-down and apparently has not been licenced to us.

[Guest]

oh dear , so what happens with the updates then cant you do them ????

[Rachel Scand]

there was something on the radio today about free computers ... old ones (3 years old ?) shame I wasn't really listening

Think it must be a website like freecycle

[Guest]

its so annoying Rachel the Laptop is not even a year old yet

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

Unlicenced copies of windows are prone to causing problems as well as being illegal. They can be installed on a pc for a number of reasons, folks who build a pc don't always want to buy a genuine copy for cost reasons and use either a copy they have made themselves or may have come by some other way. A pc may have had a non genuine copy installed at some point during repairs.


In order to work out what updates have been installed and what may be needed a pc and Microsoft update sites "talk" to each other, part of the process is to verify the copy of windows is genuine, (and the software licence is valid) if it isn't then the updates won't work and problems can follow.

[Guest]

actually Glen she bought it second hand on ebay do you think maybe its illegal ????

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

There is a way to check but she would need to be able to boot the pooter up first, if it is a dodgy copy then it usually says so when connected to the microsoft site before the update starts.

Off hand i can't remember how to check on XP, but unless the message "this is not a geniune copy......" came up it might be something completely different.

[Stella]

Wow!! I am back! My friend sorted it for me with a recovery disc. Told me that he has read on a site that this happened to thousands of folk yesterday all over the world!!

[Tilly Mint]

Its good to have you back posting Stella

[Rachel Scand]

That's a relief Stella ... Val will be delighted

[Guest]

will I ??? Rachel YYIIPPEE

[Rachel Scand]

will I ??? Rachel YYIIPPEE

YES :p

Actually I thought you'd be delighted to know that it might not just be a problem with your own computer

[Guest]

but it is , rang the today and its dead again.So annoyed with it .

[Rachel Scand]

:( what do they say the problem is and is it still under guarantee ?

[Stella]

Its good to have you back posting Stella

Thanks Jacky and everyone.

[Guest]

it seems its a power problem so they say Rachel but who knows ?? and yes its under guarantee

[Guy]

Did Stella try to download the dodgy update again, if so that would have killed the computer again?

I would always urge extreme caution when downloading updates even from the likes of Microsoft. Always ask the question, is this update required before updating? If it is not required do not update.
Many of Microsoft's updates cause problems with people's computers and one should always ensure the computer has been backed up and has the install and recovery disk handy in case of problems before installing an update.

As for genuine copies of Windows there is a common problem with Microsoft not recognising genuine copies of Windows and refusing to update the program.
I have even heard of Microsoft accepting a program as genuine, updating it then baulking at the next update claiming the program is not a genuine copy.
Cheers
Guy