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    I hope this is the right forum.

    My father in law gave me his old (actually very old) PC, a HP pavilion zd7000, to see if I could fix it. The antivirus continued to spit out that it found viruses, trojan horses etc. It was also randomly restarting. I decided to format and install from scratch windows xp home  (the version that was installed already) from a CD burned from an image of WinXP SP3 downloaded from MSDN (bizspark program). During the installation when it asked from the usual licence key made of letters and number, I entered the one on the sticked on the bottom of the machine but the installation refused it. I tried to follow the procedure here: http://netsecurity.about.com/od/windowsxp/qt/aaqtwinxp0829.htm replacing the wpa.dbl file with the one on the backup of the machine before formating, but I did not have any luck. I also tried the phone activation with both the wpa.dbl files but it keep failing.

    Any suggestions on how to fix the problem?

    Best regard,

    Camicia

     

    Saturday, September 3, 2011 6:17 AM

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    The Windows XP product key affixed to the computer is for an OEM version of Windows XP.  The disk you created is a retail version.  Therefore, the product key would be incorrect and will not work without an OEM Windows XP disc.  What you need to do is install Windows XP without entering the product key (you can do this with a Windows XP w/SP3 disc) and then use the Windows XP Product Key Update Tool to enter the OEM product key.  Product activation will require the "activate by phone" method.
    Carey Frisch
    • Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7:28 PM
    Saturday, September 3, 2011 3:14 PM
    Moderator

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    The Windows XP product key affixed to the computer is for an OEM version of Windows XP.  The disk you created is a retail version.  Therefore, the product key would be incorrect and will not work without an OEM Windows XP disc.  What you need to do is install Windows XP without entering the product key (you can do this with a Windows XP w/SP3 disc) and then use the Windows XP Product Key Update Tool to enter the OEM product key.  Product activation will require the "activate by phone" method.
    Carey Frisch
    • Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7:28 PM
    Saturday, September 3, 2011 3:14 PM
    Moderator
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    Thank you very much. It looks likes it worked fine. It did not require an "activate by phone" method though.

    Now there is my wife PC. I am not sure it is worth while to fix it. It used to have a blue screen on boot. I tried to reinstall but the installation fails saying that it cannot copy one file. The HD seems to be defective but I think I can find one from another old computer that I should have somewhere at home.

    It is the same story. It is a HP laptop with OEM version. I wanted to use the same WinXP SP3 CD. Now since the HD is going to change. It this system going to work? I think that product key becoem associated with the hardware of the machine.

    Best,

        Camicia

    Sunday, September 4, 2011 6:23 AM
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    Yes, it should work just as it did for your other computer.
    Carey Frisch
    Sunday, September 4, 2011 7:20 PM
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