I have a friend who obtained a pirated copy of xp. I
told him to buy a new copy and we would reinstall. He
bought the new copy but activation has expired before we
could reinstall.

Here's my question: Do i even need to reinstall? Can i
take the new product key and activate his current
installation? If so, how do i do this now that the
system has locked us out? (safe mode > activation?)

Thanks
Jason

Jason wrote:
> I have a friend who obtained a pirated copy of xp. I
> told him to buy a new copy and we would reinstall. He
> bought the new copy but activation has expired before we
> could reinstall.
>
> Here's my question: Do i even need to reinstall? Can i
> take the new product key and activate his current
> installation? If so, how do i do this now that the
> system has locked us out? (safe mode > activation?)
>
> Thanks
> Jason

Answered in general - please do not multi-post. If you must, crosspost to
two or three /pertinent/ groups. This saves those of us who monitor more
than one group from having to read the same messages over and over and
prevents you from receiving identical replies.

Greetings --

If you are trying to install Service Pack 1a and getting the
following:

The Product Key Used to Install Windows Is Invalid
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q326904

You need to purchase and use a _legitimate_ full retail copy of
WinXP Pro to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation,
using the new CD and Product Key.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directo...;EN-US;Q315341


Bruce Chambers

--
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having both at once. -- RAH


"Jason" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:109c501c44041$5c1fb410$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a friend who obtained a pirated copy of xp. I
> told him to buy a new copy and we would reinstall. He
> bought the new copy but activation has expired before we
> could reinstall.
>
> Here's my question: Do i even need to reinstall? Can i
> take the new product key and activate his current
> installation? If so, how do i do this now that the
> system has locked us out? (safe mode > activation?)
>
> Thanks
> Jason