A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license

Question

I have a DELL Inspiron 5150 with Windows XP Home SP2. Love it. very reliable. All of a sudden, yesterday when I logged on, I started getting a message: 'A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer. Error Code: 0x80004005' I searched on the DELL forum and followed the advice based on Microsoft Bulletin 306081 and 310794, which recognize this problem on DELL laptops. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306081 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310794&sd=RMVP Well, I tried 310794, but my PC did not improve. I repaired my Windows from the supplied CD. It worked for a while then, back to the activation error message. I tried steps suggested by Microsoft in 306081. I can get in but I can't launch much of the software. It says access denied. This is very frustrating. I have spent a good 48 hours doing almost nothing but trying to search for solutions and to try them. Can you please suggest a fix that will guarantee I won't run into this issue again. Thanks, Mike Bitar

scottatah · Answer

i'd try safemode w/networking and see if you still get the error

HABIT · Answer

i never had trouble getting into safe mode or normal mode. but i can no longer run many applications. it says access denied, even though I am logging in as admin.

HABIT · Answer

It seems a combination of fixes was necessary to resolve the issue.

1) The Microsoft fixes
2) The physical removal of ZoneAlarm Pro (latest) firewall

While the MS fixes allowed me to log back into Windows, I was still having access denied problems to many applications. The strange thing is that ZoneAlarm was not loaded on startup. And even after I removed it using the Control Panel, it did not help. So I had to physically remove the two ZoneAlarm folders, one from the Program Files director and the other from the Windows/System32 directory.

Now I can log in and run my apps. I am crossing my fingers.

Thanks to the folks who offered suggestions.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Was this post helpful?