witch Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 (edited) I am trying to sort out an old Sony Vaio laptop for a friend and I have wiped it and tried to install XP. but it won't take the key. I have now tried 5 different XP pro disks, all of which have their own XP pro keys and not one works. The original install was XP home and all my disks are pro but presumably as the machine has been wiped that doesnt matter, does it? Never seen this before. I can't get past the 'Invalid Key' message. It's driving me nuts Edited September 18, 2011 by witch
glennda Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 if your trying to use the original key (on the sticker) I don't think xp pro media will work.
witch Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 if your trying to use the original key (on the sticker) I don't think xp pro media will work. No, I'm not - all my XP pro disks have XP pro license keys. One of them was completely unopened with the license sticker on it and it still didnt work.
glennda Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 No, I'm not - all my XP pro disks have XP pro license keys. One of them was completely unopened with the license sticker on it and it still didnt work. Best bet is to try and ring the ms activation line - they normally are pretty good with sorting issues like that.
Arthur Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 To use the product key on the sticker you will need an XP Home disc with GRTMHOEM_EN as its volume label.
witch Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 Thanks - I dont have an XP home disc but surely if I have wiped the disk I shouldnt need one, should I?
Arthur Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 (edited) Installing XP Pro on a computer originally licensed for XP Home Edition wouldn't be legal. Edited September 18, 2011 by Arthur
bossman Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 Installing XP Pro on a computer originally licensed for XP Home Edition wouldn't be legal. It would if you had bought the original professional media with the license. You can install any OS you like as long as you have purchased the license for it and the unit will run the OS.
bossman Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 Thanks - I dont have an XP home disc but surely if I have wiped the disk I shouldnt need one, should I? When you say you have wiped the HDD have you wiped the hidden sector? sometimes laptops have their own OS re-installation partition along with the install program written into the ROM. Have you tried installing windows 7? #MrBombastic hehe!
witch Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 (edited) bossman: yes I did wipe the hidden sector. Can't install Win 7 - got no license key not sure about the legality - OEM and all that - but the copy I am putting on is licensed so hopefully that is OK Edited September 18, 2011 by witch
bossman Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 It is legal thank you Arthur - as I said I have an unopened disk and a license key so there!! bossman: yes I did wipe the hidden sector. Can't install Win 7 - got no license key Well it looks like a call to Microsoft or this may help you: Did you like my video link yesterday hehe!
Arthur Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 It would if you had bought the original professional media with the license. Good point. When I fix computers, I normally reload the original OS since I don't have any spare Windows licenses floating around.
witch Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 I have been kindly offered an XP home iso by two lovely people so I shall try that and see if I can GET THE B*******D WORKING!!!!
bossman Posted September 18, 2011 Posted September 18, 2011 @witch: You give up far too easily hehe! Go get em tiger!!!
RabbieBurns Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 are you sure you are typing it correctly 1
witch Posted September 19, 2011 Author Posted September 19, 2011 @witch: You give up far too easily hehe! You know me better than that - I NEVER give up. And as for typing it in correctly - EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE HAS TYPED IN EVERY KEY I HAVE - including the dog AND IT JUST DOESN'T ****** WORK (cue Kermit arms)
HallX Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 On the off chance, try plugging an external keyboard in and use that. You never know.
tech_guy Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 At my old place I had a colleague who nearly went mental because the key on the sticker on the PC didn't work despite numerous attempts and lots of swearing. He refused to let anyone try and I still remember him shouting down the phone at the poor old Microsoft cannon fodder techie who was trying to help. They kept telling him the key he was reading out was wrong and he was insisting that was what was printed on it. I had a look at the sticker and pointed out that what he thought was an '8' was in fact a 'B'............
sidewinder Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 Is number lock on? I'm sure you've checked that, but it's something that has caught me out before
witch Posted September 19, 2011 Author Posted September 19, 2011 No number lock, no 8's instead of B's - how I wish it was that easy...External keyboard gives same result
2097 Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 With OEM machines you need the appropriate OEM disc from that manfacture i believe . Not sure if XP uses SLIC like Vista and 7 , but windows 7 for example allows the use of a NON oem disc providing it has SLIC information in the Bios.
sted Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 i know its a faf but could you just put the drive in another pc get the install past the key bit then put back in the real laptop for driver detection etc?
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