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Quick facts:

  1. I installed Ubuntu and was following directions on this site to get Wine to work (it wasn't working properly) and changed a few things on my Windows partition from within Ubuntu. After that, Windows started getting BSOD.

  2. The BSOD error says %hs is missing

  3. I don't have a Windows license sticker on the bottom of my laptop. I got it through the Japanese Lenovo site and getting the license from them now is a mess.

  4. I'm running both Ubuntu and Windows Home Premium 64-bit in dual-boot.

I have looked up many solutions for this %hs thing, and couldn't find any that matches my problem. I would just reinstall Windows, but I have no disc, and no license. I would love to only use Ubuntu, but I have to use Excel and this software for my university work.

I'm not sure what to do, but I don't want to have to buy Windows again for $70. Please help if you can.

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So, in short, "I changed a few things on my windows partition. After that, windows started getting BSOD." - I'm not sure if it relates to Ubuntu at all... an obvious answer would be "reverse the changes you've made". Do you remember what the changes were? – Sergey Aug 17 '12 at 7:57

2 Answers

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Wine doesn't require to change files in Windows directory. Either You have been misled or you have misunderstood.

Whatever changes you have done, revert back. If you can't do that for some reason (say you deleted some dll) don't worry. No need to buy windows again. Contact MS to get the product key (If you don't have it) and reinstall windows.

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Thanks for your answers. Unfortunately I don't remember what I changed. It was a few weeks ago and I moved away, so I haven't had time to check into it until now. I'll try contacting MS, but I wonder what they can do since I don't have my key anymore – Brian Aug 17 '12 at 8:40
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Okay there is a way out without contacting MS.

@juanoleso, et al...

Because of your help, I was able to learnthe location of the Windows Registry files: (C:\WINDOWS\system32\config)

I also had found Magic Jellybean KeyFinder (MJBKF) in my searching previously, but was unaware that it would work on a hive that was not the current one, like some other programs of similar purpose. With information from you folks, I made some attempts. Here's what worked... I copied the config folder (mentioned above) to my USB drive using Ubuntu to get access to the hard drive. On another Windows machine, I installed MJBKF and plugged in the USB drive. MJBKF didn't work if I pointed it to the config folder. So I thought to duplicate the directory structure it might normally see in Windows. I created a windows folder, and then created a system32 folder in it. I then moved the config folder into the system32 folder. MJBKF worked fine when I pointed it to the newly-created windows folder. I was able to get my Windows XP Key!

Source : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=858456

You can recover your windows key by that method and then reinstall it.

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