Windows XP Licensing

[mac1287]

Greetings,

 

The district I work for is considering donating some older laptops and desktops to a charity in our area. We currently are using volume licensing for our district. Now, we let the charity start off by taking 2 laptops as a test to see if they met there demands, the only problem they're having is that when they reinstall windows XP (we've wiped the HD's for security) and use the product key located on the laptop (COA) it's saying it's not geniune even though we've never activated the licenses for these.

 

My question would be, how we go about getting windows to activate accordingly with the licenses that we've never activated. Would a call to Microsoft do the trick?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[markcuk]

are they using oem version of windows?

[Brpilot99]

Sounds like the media used doesnt match the key type !!! Ive had this problem when installing xp from a commercial disc (IE the type you purchase in a box from the PC shop) and using our schools key ... Also if I install using our schools volume media xp disc and try to use a commercial key it wont accept the key ... Are they installing XP pro and the key is for XP home perhaps?

[sukh]

Make sure the media they are using is correct

 

Also, as long as you have the COA then call MS, they will help

 

Sukh

[mac1287]

I was told that they're installing Windows XP Pro SP1 (which is what the COA details). I can look to see if we have our system restore DVD's (These are all HP machines), but if I can't locate these, would any XP Professional SP1 CD work for the install and they can call Microsoft to fix the activation issue?

 

Really appreciate such quick responses, you guys are great!

[markcuk]

Preserving OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP

[mac1287]

So if they edit the oobe ini file with the COA key that is on the machine, the annoying "This copy of Windows is not genuine" will stop if they retry the activation process?

[markcuk]

Have you tried to activate over the phone? it seems you will have to do that way

[dhicks]

Would a call to Microsoft do the trick?

 

Here in the UK, the telephone activation procedure for Windows XP is fully automated - you type in a code from the PC, the automated system reads another (rather long) code out to you. It's a bit tedious, especially if you're doing multiple computers, but it does seem to work okay.

[KK20]

Alternatively try using a HP system restore CD. I know for dells & fujitsus that ANY dell XP CD will work in pretty much any dell (and our fujitsus) so long as the BIOS is intact. I guess HP is the same.