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I thought it's possible to run expired Windows in Safe Mode. However, Windows has expired and I'm getting the following message trying to log-in in SF: "This copy of windows must be activated with Microsoft before you can continue. Because activation cannot occur in safe mode, please restart the computer in normal mode to activate windows.". Does every version of XP behave like that? Is there any way around?

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Activation is required for all versions of windows above winXP. While there are ways to get around it, they generally violate the terms of service. If you have a legal copy of windows, you can activate it easily, as many times as you need on a single machine. If the system is malfunctioning and you are unable to activate, you'll have to reinstall the OS. If you have critical files on the system, you can always connect it to another machine as a data drive and pull the files off.

Activation is a pain, but a required part of windows.

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Activation needn't be a pain. I've had to reinstall XP three times recently (twice for on copy) and each time I just did the online activation and it went through with no problems. – ChrisF Aug 18 '10 at 18:05
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Obvious the OP is not using a genuine copy that he can activate.. – Fosco Aug 18 '10 at 18:28
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If they don't have a genuine copy, then they should purchase one. We don't want to assume that OP was asking for help on how to pirate windows XP. If OP can't afford a legal copy, then there are a number of free linux distros out there that are relatively easy to use. – Doltknuckle Aug 18 '10 at 22:18
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