|[...]my HD went out on me[...]Have the installation disk
|but can't remember what I did with the product code for the OS.
| Kioti
http://www.google.com/search?q=Windows-98+Product-Key
"Activation" is actually an XP term. There you have to jump thru EVEN MORE hoops.
...then there's XP's "Windows Genuine Advantage" which constantly calls you a thief.