[janny6]

I had a hard drive fail and a new one installed. I reloaded Windows XP from a disk but certain programs were not running right. I decided to start from scratch and reload Windows and all the Dell supporting applications. I can get to the Windows welcome screen and log in screen but get an error message stating, "This copy of windows must be activated by Microsoft before you can log on. Do you want to log on Y or N." I select yes and nothing happens, Welcome screen, and message again. Thanks!

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There are many versions of XP. The ones called OEM are used by computer builders in their machines. OEM version is much cheaper then the retail versions because they have some severe limitations. One of them is that if you replace a piece of hardware, e.g HD or CPU, that are registered by windows during it's first installation, you can't use the program any more. You can install it many times up to the moment that you replace something.

I think that your best option is to try to call one of Microsoft's Reactivation Centers and consult them what can be done, if at all.

[The Skeptic]

There are many versions of XP. The ones called OEM are used by computer builders in their machines. OEM version is much cheaper then the retail versions because they have some severe limitations. One of them is that if you replace a piece of hardware, e.g HD or CPU, that are registered by windows during it's first installation, you can't use the program any more. You can install it many times up to the moment that you replace something.

I think that your best option is to try to call one of Microsoft's Reactivation Centers and consult them what can be done, if at all.

[1101doc]

Leo Laporte (Ask Leo!) recently experienced a similar problem, and explained how he got things working: http://ask-leo.com/w...windows_xp.html

Perhaps that will help.