Need help on my dell computer

[MaMister]

Hi, I have a dell desktop that comes with XP home edition, I have lost my restore cd and get a copy of oem xp home edition from a friend and load it in.

Before I did the reformat, I extracted the licence key using magic key finder.

It works fine with installing and the key.

The problem is that I can't seem to activate the window.... not with the key I extracted or the key that sticks on the side of the pc.

Why is this so? Please advise.

 

[TG2]

Microsoft disabled internet activation for XP's from several large OEM manufacturers, you will have to call and get it activated.
(and you should use the CDKey from the sticker on the case, not the one that was extracted)

 

[MaMister]

Oh, ok. Thank you very much.

 

[RebateMonger]

Please let us know what Microsoft says. Thanks!

Microsoft disabled online activation of BIOS-locked OEM keys about a year ago. Since you used a non-Dell version of OEM XP to do the install, you were forced to activate. Microsoft doesn't really consider it proper to use a non-Dell CD to install OEM XP on a Dell, but I suspect they will allow the activation.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: MaMister
The problem is that I can't seem to activate the window.... not with the key I extracted or the key that sticks on the side of the pc.

Is the product key that you extracted from the registry the same one that is on the side of the pc? If so ou should be able to activate it without a problem. In addition to the standard activation questions the Microsoft rep will probably ask you to repeat the product key back to them, as well as asking for the make and model of the computer.

 

[orion23]

I had a similar problem.

I formatted my brother's Sony Vaio pc using a DELL XP Home OEM CD. That CD doesn't require a key but requires activation. The key provided with the vaio wouldn't work with for the activation so I had to call Microsoft. I've done this twice and they have allowed me to activate over the phone using the hardware ID.