Hi guys,

Forgive me if this has been asked before as I am sure it has, but I just can't find the answer while searching. I got some computers from someone and I am clean installing them after refurbing to resell them. I have a COA sticker on the side that says Windows XP Home Edition which looks like a retail COA. I don't see a Gateway label on it (these are old Gateway series M desktops), but it has Microsoft on it and looks like a retail sticker. I have my Technet disc of XP home loaded up and I put in this COA key, but the damn thing keeps saying its invalid. I started with XP SP3, but tried again using the XP Home disc from Technet (which is original with no service packs) to see if that made a difference, but it did not. What am I missing here? I am new to Technet, so is this an issue?

I am very frustrated!! I try to do things by the book and above the board, but Microsoft makes it hard when you can't activate their software. I had to use a retail key off of my original personal copy of XP home from years ago just to get past the screen and move on. I wish the world would use linux, then I'd put linux mint on everything and to hell with Microsoft!

Thanks for any help/advice.

Same here - it is a real pain, but I run into this more often than not. I don't know if the COA sticker is a variation from OEM or Retail that is causing the problem, but I cannot find a way to make it work with the COA on the case.

I know techs on here & other forums say they are doing it with no problems...well, for whatever reason it's not happening on my end.

Hopefully someone will post a solution.

This is part of why i spent $199 to get Technet so i could be legal and do things right. I need an answer to this badly. There is no reason this key shouldn't work. It says XP home and that's what I have installed.

BTW, phone activation fails, too.

Damn Microsoft!

Hi,

Check the key on the sticker very very carefully.

Some of the letters and numbers are very similar and are far easy to confuse.

8's and B's; O's and 0's are easy to mix up. Other letters and numbers can be mixed up as well. I speak from experience

If you are getting an Invalid Key message before you activate then the key you are entering is not the same as the one on the sticker; even if you think it is

The other option would be that the sticker was misprinted or otherwise in error when made. Are you 100% sure it's a legit sticker?

Kind Regards

Simon

I had some issues with the phone activation as well; you get to speak to a live representative & then they hand you off to a "machine" that reads the number s out & you type them in.

It fails, I call back & we go through the same routine. I went through this three times in a row, finally got fed up with it & informed customer that they would have to purchase the actual restore disks from HP (in one case). We did that & all went smoothly. Obviously this won't work in all instances, but it did get me out of the woods a few times.

BTW, mine fails at the point when I activate online, usually not during the install, although I have experienced that a few times...

@ SimonZerafa - you are correct, the letters/numbers can be mis-read, but I am certain I had them correct.

I'm guessing it is all part of Microsofts attempts to crack down on piracy; make the install fail so you need to purchase another cd.

In regards to Simon, it looks genuine as it has the holographic lettering of the word GENUINE across it and a blue border with Microsoft on it. It looks authentic.

Pretty sure i typed the letters right as i have goofed this before as well.

Thanks!

If the sticker is on the case and has a hologram, it is OEM, not retail. For a retail FPP or upgrade version, the product key is on a yellow label affixed to the packaging right above where the disc is stored (the big "folder" for XP). Have you tried an OEM disc?

EDIT: An OEM key will not activate with a retail installation disc no matter how many times or how hard you try. You need an OEM disc. There is a way to convert one to another by editing the file SETUPP.INI.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=xp+setupp.ini

Hi,

This is correct; I had forgot this in relation to Windows XP.

You cannot mix the Retail and OEM PID's (Keys) and you will need specific install media for each.

The same goes for XP Home and Professional; and Media Centre.

There is a list that might help decode your product key sticker here:

http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Product_IDs

If the information is on the sticker this might help you work out which specific media you need.

Kind Regards

Simon

I used ISO Master in Linux to open the ISO and here's what the setupp.ini file showed:

[Pid]
ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
Pid=76477000

This (according to the lunarsoft wiki page linked earlier) is an XP Home OEM SP2 installer.

The disc I downloaded was Windows XP Home SP3 (maybe Technet slipstreamed SP3 onto an SP2 ISO)? What I don't get is that this says OEM?? I tried changing the 76477000 to read 55277000, which according to Lunarsoft, should be XP Home Retail, but this also showed invalid key.

I am at a loss? I will try a few other codes from the lunarsoft site to see what happens testing them in a VM before I waste CD's.

Puzzled?
scovilletech

On branded PCs - be they Gateways, Dells, HPs, whatever - the product ID sticker will never reactivate a new install of a Windows OS. The number on the sticker is what I call a phantom number; it is assigned to that PC, not the OS that is installed on it.

You need to get your hands on a installation disk branded for Gateway, and when you install from this disk you will NOT be asked to input a Product ID.

I don't know if you can can get branded install media from Technet, but they are available elsewhere (or so I've been told ).