Cannot get to activation screen

[LP]

I have an emachine (C1641) which has xp home sp2 installed. Motherboard
died (ECS L7VMM) and since emachine does not sell mobo anymore, I researched
and bought a new motherboard (ASROCK K7VM3) with hardware and chipsets as
close to original as possible. Swap went well but when I booted, it says
this copy of xp needs to be activated. Click no you go back to login
screen, click yes and the first couple of times, it took me to a screen that
said xp was already activated then back to the login screen. Now after a bit
it just it puts me back to the login screen. I can only get to safe mode
and I loaded the new drivers. I have the original restore disks, and the
COA is attached to the back of the computer. I put in a different hard
drive and xp restore and activation over the internet went flawlessly. I do
not want to reformat and restore the old hard drive as I want to preserve
the stuff on there now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW,
emachine tech support was no help.

Thanks again,
Lonnie

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If Windows XP was preinstalled by eMachine and you
did not replace the defective motherboard with the exact
eMachine replacement, your eMachine version of Windows
XP is not going to activate since it is looking for the same BIOS.
All you can do is to purchase a conventional "Full Version" of
Windows XP and proceed with a "Repair Install".

A preinstalled OEM version of Windows XP cannot be used
with a different type of motherboard. The license is tied to
a specific motherboard model and BIOS and cannot be transferred.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.­com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I have an emachine (C1641) which has xp home sp2 installed. Motherboard
| died (ECS L7VMM) and since emachine does not sell mobo anymore, I researched
| and bought a new motherboard (ASROCK K7VM3) with hardware and chipsets as
| close to original as possible. Swap went well but when I booted, it says
| this copy of xp needs to be activated. Click no you go back to login
| screen, click yes and the first couple of times, it took me to a screen that
| said xp was already activated then back to the login screen. Now after a bit
| it just it puts me back to the login screen. I can only get to safe mode
| and I loaded the new drivers. I have the original restore disks, and the
| COA is attached to the back of the computer. I put in a different hard
| drive and xp restore and activation over the internet went flawlessly. I do
| not want to reformat and restore the old hard drive as I want to preserve
| the stuff on there now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW,
| emachine tech support was no help.
|
| Thanks again,
| Lonnie

 

[LP]

Thanks for responding so quickly. When you say "Full Version", do you mean
retail or OEM.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Either version will work.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Thanks for responding so quickly. When you say "Full Version", do you mean
| retail or OEM.