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james_axton

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XP Home Key Doesn't Work With New Media

The XP Home key IS legitimate.  I needed to do a reinstall of XP Home and did not have original media so I first borrowed a full version of XP Home SP2 which failed with a "Key not valid" message.  Next I torrented a media-only copy of XP Home SP3 (note this was NOT a crack, just the media itself) which also failed.

1) Why does a legit key on the Windows sticker on the back of the machine fail with different media
2) What are my options for doing a reinstall?

Thanks,

James  
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Grizzly072000

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Grizzly072000

Of course, I'm not allowed to tell you what to do, if you know what I mean...
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If the XP CD is the same VERSION ( ie, Home SP1, SP2 or what have you)  as the version of your Product Key you should be OK. I don't think it's illegal. It's the licence that counts, not the CD.

I've installed XP using an OEM key with a standard CD of the same version. No problem. Maybe I was just lucky.

Otherwise you'd have to ask MS for new media.

:o)
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@vallis: Are you saying that any product key you could happen to find on the Internet would work on an XP CD of the same flavour? LOL
@brett_apfc: The OP doesn't have the original CD, probably an OEM CD. Any other OEM CD will NOT accept the key on the label.
Moreover, if it's an OEM Windows version, I doubt MS will help. Maybe the PC manufacturer will, hopefully.....
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One other note: Check product key on COA carefully. It is very easy to confuse letters and numbers on sticker especially B with 8. A magnifying glass will help.
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Thanks to everyone for the replies, I learned quite a bit from this thread!

For future reference here is how I solved this:

I was able to track down a copy of XP Home (no SP) with a legitimate key - though most people wouldn't have this resource available to them and I understand that.  Also, this version appeared to be retail and not OEM but I could be wrong (how can I tell the type?).  I successfully installed Windows and before running any updates I used Magical Jelly Bean to change the key.  It accepted it and I was able to run all updates including WGA.  

I'll close this out and do my best to allot points as fairly as I can.

Thanks again for all of the help!

James
willcomp, thank you for the link.  It looks like I was very fortunate - the copy of XP Home (no SP) that I was able to get was an OEM installation.  That explains why it worked.  Thank you willcomp!