XP Pro upgrade mistake

[Guest]

I have a genuine copy of XP Pro upgrade and an OEM version of XP Home on my
laptop. I also have a Dell Dimension desktop. By mistake I selected the Dell
XP Pro disk instead of the PC Pro upgrade disk. The loading proceeded O.K
and I now have XP Pro loaded successfully on the laptop. Unfortunately, it
has the key of the XP Pro from my Dell and not the key from the upgrade and I
can't activate the product. Can anyone tell me how to rectify this
situation? If I load the PC Pro upgrade disk into my laptop will it go
through a load process? If not, how do I proceed?

 

[R. McCarty]

Use the Microsoft Key Changer program.
Start Here:
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfhelp/pkuinstructions.aspx

 

[Guest]

Sorry to be thick! If I input the Dell CD key into the Microsoft Key Changer
program, it proceeds and says that the key has been successfully changed.
When I try to activate with this key it tells me its incorrect. Should I use
the PC Pro upgrade disk key?

 

[R. McCarty]

You have to use Telephone activation. OEM key theft/use caused MS
to change the activation scheme for OEM installs to not automatically
activate over the Internet. Select the Telephone option ( Pick Country).
The automated speak/receive portion won't validate and you'll have to
speak to a customer representative. Just explain what happened and
they will generate a new code sequence to get the PC activated.