Win XP SP3 setup not accepting the product key

[Qacer]

I'm curious. I'm working on my aunt's SONY Vaio desktop computer. She's got a Win XP Home product key on the back, but she doesn't have the XP CD.

I borrowed a copy of XP SP3 from another friend and re-installed XP one her machine. However, when I got to the product key page, it is not accepting the XP key on the back of her machine. I cannot proceed with the setup.

What's the remedy?

Thanks!

 

[RebateMonger]

The new XP is XP Home, right? And it's coming from an OEM XP Install CD and not an XP Retail Install CD, right?

There's an issue with OEM XP Professional SP3 and some license keys, but that problem didn't extend to XP Home.

 

[heymrdj]

If she has a OEM license it won't activate a Retail copy disc. I found that out this weekend reinstalling my uncle's XP Professional after Antivirus Pro 2009 got to it.

 

[Qacer]

Thanks! Yes, they are both Home editions.

I ended up getting the product key from my friend, so I installed the OS with the CD product key. After the installation, I skipped activation and downloaded Microsoft's tool to change the product key. I replaced the installation product key with the one found on the back of the computer. It worked like a charm.