Lapsed licenses on used machines
Q: I have started to see a notice on my computer that my copy of Windows is not activated and tells me to activate now. But when I click on that, I get another message that says “We can’t activate Windows on this device as we can’t connect to your organization’s activation server.” What does this mean and how do I fix it?
A: This message tells me that your computer has a copy of Windows that is owned by a company and that they are using an activation server to maintain the licensing. If this computer is a company computer, you should be able to either make a VPN connection if they use that service or take the computer into the office so that it can check in with the server.
If this computer is something you bought secondhand, you are going to have to purchase your own copy of Windows, as the copy that is installed isn’t licensed for personal use.
Q: My photo albums in Google Photo on my Android phone have completely disappeared. I have searched all possible backups and found the photo albums, but the photos are missing. What can I do to recover my images?
A: I cannot say why your photos might have gone missing. It could be a simple mistake on your part or a glitch in the software on your phone, but the good news is that Google doesn’t immediately remove photos that are accidentally deleted.
If you log into your Google photos account at photos.google.com and click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner of the page, you will see a link to your Trash folder.
This is where Google stores deleting images and it will keep them there for 60 days unless you manually access the folder and delete them permanently.
You should be able to find your missing images there and put them back where they belong.