Windows XP activation

alphanumeric said:

I worked on a PC for a friend. I had to reinstall the OS and use my disks, they couldn't find theirs. I had to use an XP Home CD with no service packs before it would accept the product code on the sticker on the case. Installing XP home with SP1 or SP2 resulted in the product code being rejected. Even then I had to activate by phone. They didn't hassle me though and gave me the number to type in manually. The phone part ended up being the easiest part of the whole deal.

You call Microsoft or the manufacturer?

alphanumeric said:

Genesis4455 said:

alphanumeric said:

I worked on a PC for a friend. I had to reinstall the OS and use my disks, they couldn't find theirs. I had to use an XP Home CD with no service packs before it would accept the product code on the sticker on the case. Installing XP home with SP1 or SP2 resulted in the product code being rejected. Even then I had to activate by phone. They didn't hassle me though and gave me the number to type in manually. The phone part ended up being the easiest part of the whole deal.

You call Microsoft or the manufacturer?

I called Microsoft when it wouldn't activate on line. I just followed the instructions on screen for activate by telephone. The original CD for this PC was likely a SLP edition that is tied to the BIOS an activates silently during the install. The product code that the original CD uses and enters automatically doesn't match the one on the sticker. The one on the sticker was never used until I typed it in.

So most definitely call Microsoft