windows genuine validation problem

[crittergeek928]

Hey,
I purchased a used laptop in January running xp pro. It has the COA on the back. I have been doing all the ms updates with no problems. I turned on the laptop yesterday to find the "you may be a victim of software couterfeiting" message on the corner of my desktop. I went through their help menu and ended up at the updating product key site. I attempted to do this but now I get a message saying there was a problem writing to disk and make sure I have enough disk space. There is 12.5GB free on a 27.9GB capacity disk. I'm not sure where to go from here. I ran a disk cleanup and tried again, but that didn't help. So, once again, I ask for your help.
Thanks!

[glc]

What brand is the laptop, and is the COA for XP Pro?

[crittergeek928]

IBM thinkpad, and, yes, coa is xp pro.

[glc]

Have you tried pushing the blue button and seeing if the recovery partition is still there for a fresh OS load?

[crittergeek928]

I had not. But I went and tried. It restored but it is still giving me the same message.

[glc]

I would run hard drive diagnostics.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/suppor...2_v415_b01.iso

[crittergeek928]

I feel really stupid. I can't figure out how to use the diagnostic you suggested I download. I have downloaded and burned to cd. Do I need to boot with the cd in?
Thanks

[glc]

You burn it as an image with CD burning software such as Nero or Roxio - it's an iso. You don't just copy the file to a CD. Boot with it.

[shadowpr]

Burn it as an image.

Then boot the computer from the cd.

EDIT: G beat me to it.

[crittergeek928]

Yep. Sorry, once I started messing with it, I remembered. Anyway, hd tested okay. I ran both the quick test and the advanced. Both came back as test completed successfully. Disposition codes 0x00. I am still waiting a response from microsoft. I e-mailed them about the situation. I'm not really sure what to think at this point. But I really appreciate all your help.

[crittergeek928]

I did hear back from MS. They did verify that my copy of windows is genuine. That is good. However, whenever I try to use the product key updater, I get an error message that one or more Windows files are missing or corrupted. When I click yes to continue anyway I get the second error message that says there was a script writing error. Is there a way to find out what Windows files are missing and/or corrupt?
Thanks

[glc]

If you have already used the blue button and done a complete reinstall, I dunno. You will need a XP CD if the recovery image is damaged.

If you are able, you could run the windows system file checker but you would probably need a XP CD to fix any corrupted files. Normally it will use the on-disk cache if possible to repair a file but anytime I've used it, I've had to use the CD to repair the file. To run the system file checker press Start, Run, and then type in SFC /scannow.