[shoogle123]

Well, Mr. Gates got me. I purchased a Dell version of XP on eBay (sucker <g>)
I installed it earlier on--seemed to be ok. But...in the meantime wife got sick and was tied up running to the hospital.
..of course I didn' t 'activate' it and now it won't start up (Geez I HATE that!)

What I actually did was plunk in a brand new drive to install it on (just fine), and kept my old Win98 as it was on the orginal so I can switch back and forth ok--works just fine.
Now, I'm told that I can contact MS and with some begging and kneeling and scraping they will tell me how to activate it. Does anyone know, is this true? and how does it work?

Also I understand there is something called 'voting' whereby you are limited to the devices that are installed on the machine.

Please someone with more knowledge than me; I need help.
Hey I'm an old 'geezer' (70) and can't afford all this expensive software
Well, anyway thanks in advance if you can point me in the right direction.
At least I have lots of time, if I don't have any money <g>
KJ

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You should be able to turn the computer on, but it will pop up a message saying that Windows needs to be activated before you can continue. Just click yes to activate and follow the on-screen instructions.

[Fenor]

You should be able to turn the computer on, but it will pop up a message saying that Windows needs to be activated before you can continue. Just click yes to activate and follow the on-screen instructions.

[wannabe1]

Hi shoogle123...Welcome to G2G!

Actually, I have been through this process with Microsoft and the support person I talked with was very courtious and helpful...The software was activated in minutes and without the grovelling I expected.

The "voting" process is true. XP allows a certain amount of hardware to be changed before it "sees" it as a different machine. Adding a bit here and a bit there does not seem to affect it and, on my machine at least, is seems to adapt and accept it's new environment. (I'm constantly changing something in or out...)

Hope this helps...

wannabe1