Ok, I have an Older Dell Inspiron Laptop and I upgraded the Hard Drive from 30Gb to 80Gb. No problem. Before I did this I copied the XP Pro activation Code to a USB Memory stick, and then Installed Xp Pro on my new 80GB hard drive. When I was told to enter the activation code, I did so, but it did not recognize it. I looked on the back of the laptop at the MS COA and saw it was XP Pro SP-1, and the copy I installed is XP Pro SP-2 Is this why it will not recognize the Activation code? And what can I do to remedy this ?

There is no way to get the code to work if it's for sp1 and you installed sp2. What happened to the disc that came with the computer. That's the one you need for that code to work. Barrie Web Hosting and Web Design Barrie

"And what can I do to remedy this ?" If it's a legal installation, just connect to the internet & activate it.

Well, I don't have a XP-Pro SP-1 disc. The laptop was bought without. That's why I used my SP-2 disc to install. (Well tried anyway) And since the installation was stopped at the input of the activation code which was not accepted, there's no way I can activate it over the net. Xp wasn't even finished installing yet. Hmmmm......... Time to telephone Microsoft I guess.

I would suggest you start with Dell first. They should be able to send you a cd to restore your system to factory defaults.

Your problem is not with SP1 or 2 but with the TYPE of Winxo CD you used. Dell is an OEM type OS and you used something else. If you are not using the WinXP version for anything else then you could use the key from that disk. Otherwise I suggest you install the 30GB drive and burn the restore disks you never made. You will be able to use those restore disks and you won't even need to enter a key. If you didn't buy the laptop new then you may not be able to make the disks. In that case follow wanderer's advice. I think you may need to pay a fee to get the disks. If the computer is as old as I think it is you may not be able to get restore disks from Dell anymore.