OK folks here's my scenario.... I inherited a used laptop from my sister, who got it thru her work. It has Win XP home installed according to system prop's. It is registered under her name and has an OEM number. When she sent it to me she sent the Win install CD she thought she got with the comp. Strangely, it is a Win XP Pro CD. (she can't remember - it was about 4 years ago when her company dumped a whole bunch of computers) It's genuine as far as I can tell cause it has the shiny surface, the logos, the recessed lettering etc. On the bottom of the laptop is also an official win xp 'home edition' sticker, with a reg key. I want to reformat and re-install as it is reg'd under her name and I'm havin gall kinds of problems with the comp's speed and it has a virus. So basically I have: - No actual Win XP home install CD - but I do have a home reg key that I assume is the one that was used to reg her version - I have a genuine XP Pro CD with no reg key With this weird combo of stuff is there any way I can re-install and get registered, without having to buy a new Cd or a new key? Any advice appreciated Thx TB

The CD is of no use without a key. I doubt the key for home edition will work for the pro CD. Try using magic jelly bean to extract the key from the working OS to see if it matches what you have written down. http://www.magicaljellybean.com/key...

your XP Home OEM key will not work with a OEM or retail copy of XP professional. it will work with any other OEM XP Home CD if you don't have one, maybe the installation sources (e.g. i386 folder) are on your laptop, then follow this guide: http://www.howtohaven.com/system/cr...

Also you can ggogle(Ebay) for a CD to replace the home version OEM (either SP1 or SP2). This is leagal as long as you have the key and it is going back to the same hardware it was attached to. You can't acquire a license seperated from the CD and the hardware it is to be attached to...but you can replace the CD. I have seen them on Ebay for just $20 before. You just have to make sure it matches...ie,,,an OEM license will not work for any other installation such as Retail or Upgrade. In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

OK I downloaded MJB from your link onto the C drive of my laptop and it didn't work. I get an error message that says "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access them." Then I tried MJB on my home pc and it worked fine. The MJB key matched the known key I have on my home machine. Not sure what I'm doing wrong on the laptop?

Oracle I looked at the 'how to ' link you gave. According to those instructions, the i386 folder must be located in path C:\i386. My i386 folder is in C:\WINDOWS\i386. My read on it is that this will not work. Lurkswithin I'm not sure I understand what ur saying. Here's my confusion. On the laptop, when I go to Start>right click my computer>properties under the registered to category it has my sister's name and then a number letter combo, which is 5 numbers then OEM then 12 more numbers. This is of course different than the 25 number\letter combo of the product key that I would enter if I had an install CD. (The one on the sticker on the bottom of the CD) Which I'm positive is for the laptop cause it even has the model (Toshiba) on the Win sticker, as in it was some kind of Win\Toshiba package deal. If I can't 'acquire a license separate from the CD and the hardware it is attached to', then how could I purchase a CD from another 3rd party and use my key. Bear with me, cause maybe I'm just confused on terms

The number that you are reading is not the license key....that number is the unique designated ID number given to the computer after windows is installed. That number is what is used to ID your computer from millions of other computers while online or while sending Emails and the likes. You CAN NOT read the license number from your computer without a special code breaking program. Download the standalone version of the program SIW from: http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download... run the program and click on operating system in the left pane and then scroll down in the right pane to "product key". That is your license or COA number that has been used to activate your computer.....which may or maynot match the sticker on the outside of the computer case. The license or COA number is locked to the computer by the legalities of the EULA...end user license agreement....and cannot be legally purchased seperately. The installation CD that was used to install the program may be replaced by re purchasing it... but it must be of the same type. There are 5 different types of installation for windows XP home 1) corporate or volumn license (allows builders or corporations to install multiple times using the same license 2) OEM ( a single license for each computer built) 3) retail (is the one sold in stores and is allowed to install up to 3 or 5 times...forgot which..) 4) upgrade (sold to upgrade from older windows to the new version) 5) student/teachers version ( similar to corporate for multiple installations using the same license) ****************** The same is for XP Pro but there is only one version of Media Center. ****************** The installation CDs MUST MATCH the TYPE of license being used...meaning that a retail CD maynot be used to install windows with a license for an OEM version or vice versa. Now the large branded builders like Dell and HP use an OEM installation CD with a volumn license agreement. this means that each computer they sell has an OEM license attached to it but is factory installed using a single license for all of them....this is why the actual numbers used to activate the operating system do not match what is on the sticker attached to the computer. There is no way that I am aware of that designates which type of license is used with what CD as they all use the 25 digit code....it is just a hunt and hope the license works for the code that is there. Through experience and practice it is discovered that the branded builders actually use the same OEM installation discs that we smaller builders/refurbishers use. More than likely the computer you have is an OEM version of windows XP Home.....but....is really determined by the history of the computer itself. The computer may have been built with a prior version of windows and upgraded to the home version meaning that the license that is on the computer must be used with an upgrade installation CD ...or....the company did not want to use an upgrade so chose to just outright purchase the retail version from the local computer store...meaning the license must match a retail installation CD. Get the picture??? In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."