using a system image backup & re-activation

Question

recently installed 64 bit Windows Home Premium.

After I got time on a broadband connection to install the Windows updates, I created a system image backup and a system repair disk. I subsequently installed many applications without testing them beyond seeing that they came up and presented themselves properly. Some of these required “registration” with publisher supplied serial numbers and/or other data supplied when I purchased them, some required on-line activation.

Then I found that the registration (enter ID and serial number) had not worked, or had been skipped, on a major component of my most frequently used software. I could not successfully enter it. Uninstalling the program and its plugins, then starting over, doesn’t work. The program accepts the registration information, says everything is great, but only runs in trial mode. Even invoking a restore point prior to the first install of the application doesn’t help.

The possible problems thus seem to be limited to either some unidentified file(s) written somewhere else (i.e. somewhere I can’t find) or something put in the boot sectors. Reformatting the OS partition and using that system image seems like my only possible solution (aside from getting another computer and starting over).

Unfortunately I had not thought to Activate Windows until after I made that system image.

-- What difficulties can I expect when I go to activate Windows this time?

-- Is there any way to minimize the problems?

-- What should I read to find out how to use the system image, and either the system repair disk or the original DVD, to perform the restore?

-- Is there anything else I should do to assure success?

Answer 1

Your activation is linked to your hardware. This means that you can restore images any number of times or install Windows as often as you like without running into problems with the activation.

You can use a Repair CD or your installation DVD to launch the image restore process.

Answer 2

It is good to know that there should not be a problem if the hard drive had to be replaced. That isn’t the impression I had gained from a couple of sources. Another hard drive isn’t out of the question but, while this isn’t the place to air my personal difficulties, any money spent is a significant problem when one isn’t working and has very few resources. I have a great deal of time on my hands, however, even though I would prefer to spend it more pleasantly.

There is no on-line registration. Serial numbers and ID were e-mail to purchaser's.

However, this is the latest problem.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7repair/thread/46c7f055-7249-423f-a4dd-e8c0078e4b9e

I agree that not allowing a simple re-installation is ridiculous. Unfortunately the originating software company was bought out by another which doesn’t seem to want anything to do with supporting older versions. Anyway, this situation seems more likely to be a Windows 7 issue than originating with the application per se. For instance, Search finds the program name (apparently on reports meant for Microsoft, although I’m not certain) too many layers down*... Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\ ...* for Search to fully display or for me to get to. I found similar long reiterative strings under c:\Users\me\ for a different program’s problem.

Such places did not exist when the application was written. I’ve also found a few of the program’s files in other places that don’t seem to exist on my win98 system. Something else, that Ican’t find, is the most likely cause of the difficulty.

A person on the user forum, associated with the current software owner, who has previously stated that he is prohibited from writing about some aspect of the software’s development and security measures, responded to my inquiry with an ambiguous statement that, while he can’t say yes or no about his company, some companies have been know to use the boot sectors for product security measures.

Sony’s well publicized automatic install root kit anti-copying measure a few years ago is probably the most widely know instance. They probably only backed down on that, after worldwide complaints, because their “security” also effected products from other producers.

Answer 3

I’ve thought about that approach but there are certain difficulties. Aside from the money aspect that made me wait for quite a few years (since 1999) to update the hardware and OS from Win98, there is the Windows Activation hassle because of new hardware. I don’t really know anything about that except that there seem to be a great many posts on this forum and some others, about people that have been driven to the edge of sanity trying to get MS to accept re-Activation after making a change in their system.

My question is not about a working copy of Windows, I already have that without any effort. The difficulty is with the software I’ve used the most for the past ten years, and upon which the work I do is dependent. It will not register and move out of demo mode after having been uninstalled once. Maybe because of something written into the boot area to prevent piracy.

The software will work properly on Win7 (did work at first) but only the first time it is installed. Going backwards on the system files with a restore point leaves something behind that prevents proper registration again. Since the restore point totally replaces the registry, that could not be the problem.

As far as how much effort, it is exhausting. I’ve spent many hours every day for a week trying different things to overcome the problem. Without that software the system is essentially useless to me. I don’t need a better computer than this Win98 system to do e-mail and use my word processor.

So, the disk boot area is a big mystery? I’ve done some searches and found sites talking about repairing boots sectors but these were all dealing with virus attacks and seemed rather vague about what they could do even then. Maybe this company’s protective measures would be treated the same way as a boot sector virus, but I have no idea, nor how expensive it would be.

From my viewpoint the ideal would be for all boot sector data be unconditionally rewritten to a never been used disk. However, I have so far found nothing that even talks about how that comes about to begin with. Is it initialized by the disk manufacturer, by the partitioning and formatting, by the OS installation, ... ?

But thanks for responding. My efforts to gain information on other forums have met only silence.

Answer 4

On each and every installation I have performed, allowing the Windows installation process to partition and format the disk resulted in a working copy of Windows.

If you are unsure about this project then you should take into account the amount of time it is going to take and the cost of a new disk. The conclusion might be that replacing the current disk with a new one would be a very cost-effective method to guarantee success. The bonus is that your old disk is still available for data retrieval. You could then use the old disk as your backup disk, preferably installed in a USB case.

Answer 5

I thought I had how-to-fix information coming, but apparently I was wrong. I need to know before I undertake the project so there is no chance of the problem still being there after I’m done.

The installation may have put something into the drive’s boot sectors, something that is preventing the registration from working when I reinstall the program.

Will reformatting the OS partition before I use the system image to reestablish the system, or just reloading the system with the system image, reinitialize the boot sectors to what they "should" be, or must I do something else to get rid of the obnoxious boot sector code (assuming there is something there)?