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Product Key Not Working


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#1
Twiztnin223

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Hello all,

I am having an issue where I do a fresh install of Windows XP Home, I enter my product key and the installation finishes itself up. After the PC reboots it tells me I have 30 days to activate Windows XP. I enter my key in again and it still doesn't take it. This key came with my PC....hmmmm Any ideas?
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#2
gerryf

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entering a key does not activate the installation...entering the key allows the isntallation to occur. You must still activate.
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#3
Twiztnin223

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It asked me for my product key in the middle of the installation. After installation, it asked me to activate windows and I reentered the product key and it still tells me I have 30 days to activate. I entered the product key again and it keeps telling me I have to activate within 30 days.

:tazz: I've tried to activate it and it still gives me the same problem.
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#4
Retired Tech

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Click start then all programmes, click accessories then system tools then click activate windows, click activate over the internet

If it says you have installed too many times, enter new product key then don't bother entering anything, click telephone, use the drop down menu to get the number for your location, call the number and follow the instructions
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#5
Twiztnin223

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I called Microsoft to see what the problem was and this is what it is. The computer that my version of Windows XP was on has been scrapped for parts and I have rebuilt a new computer.

"OEM versions

Restrictions of specific license types may limit the foregoing. OEM versions of Windows XP are licensed together with the hardware with which they are purchased, as an entity, and such a copy may not be moved to a different computer. Also, other specific license types (e.g., Academic licenses) are handled in different ways. These aren’t a WPA issue per se, but rather an issue of the license for that purchase, and therefore outside the scope of this discussion of WPA.

There are two versions of OEM Windows XP systems. One can be purchased separately, with qualifying subsidiary hardware, and installed with that hardware to an existing machine, to which it becomes bound. The software may be reinstalled and reactivated indefinitely as with a retail system as long as it is still on the original machine. It may not be transferred to a different computer. It is activated as described above, but if it were installed to hardware seen as not substantially the same, the activation would be refused as falling outside the license.

In the other OEM form, the system is provided pre-installed by a major supplier. Instead of activation, the system is ‘locked’ to the BIOS on the motherboard. The validity of this lock is checked at boot. As long as this is satisfied, other hardware may be changed freely, but any replacement motherboard must be for a compatible one supplied by the original maker.

If a BIOS-locked system is installed to a board where the lock fails, it enters a normal Activation process at startup. However, beginning 1 March 2005, the Product Key supplied on a label by the computer manufacturer, and used for the initial intallation, will not be accepted for activation. A new copy of Windows XP, with a license allowing installation on a different machine, will be needed. This means that any replacement motherboard (or upgrade to its BIOS) must be supplied by the original maker, who will ensure the lock is maintained." (http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php)

Is there anyway I can bypass this seeing as how I do not have that computer anymore?
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#6
Retired Tech

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What happens when you click activate, activate over the internet, click telephone on the page that says you have activated this too many times

You should not be entering your product key
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