Red circle with an X upon reboot? Asks to activate Windows?

[BBCMember]

A friend of mine is having this issue:

I shut down my computer, and when I started it again, a box with a red circle w/ an x came up saying I needed to authorize activating windows before I could proceed. I clicked yes to activate it then it says windows is already activated. Then it says logging off and another box comes up saying my password will expire in 11 days, and asks if I want to change it now. This all happens before the computer will load my desktop. OS version is xp. Have AVG anti-virus on it. Also have done system checkpoints with ad-aware software.

Solution?

[DeaconFrost]

You're friend either has a nasty malware infection, or he needs to call in his activation to get it going again. If he absolutely can't log in, have him try Safe Mode. If that doesn't work, he should try a repair install.