Here's my story!

I bought a lenovo laptop that was originally setup by a University for a student. 

as soon as i bought it, the hard drive crashed.

i got a new hard-drive and reinstalled xp-pro.

the COA is on the bottom of the computer, but it is not working.

the disk i used to install xp-pro was a copy given to me from the store that fixed 
the computer.

any ideas????

thanks in advance

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re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 9:28 am Posted by Steve (21685 messages posted) See if you can get hold of the Original System Restore Software from the Manufacture or 3rd Party sources available on the Internet, then reinstall Windows with those disks. If the repair people sold you a New XP CD then they should provide you with a working Product Key. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm Posted by geek9pm (1030 messages posted) Steve, I think maybe wrong on this. When you replace a major component, like a hard drive, the OEM XP CD will not let you finish the installation. You have to have the original hardware in place! But maybe that is not true of that brand. Geek9pm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 7:07 pm Posted by Rich Kurtz (12246 messages posted) One way to fix this is to take it back to the store that fixed it and make them give you a legitimate copy of XP with a correct product key. The problem with doing that is the CD WILL NOT have all the device drivers the Lenova needs, so you'll have to go to their web site and download and install them. If you order the restore CDs from Lenova as Steve suggested, it will come with the device drivers you need and make the install process a whole lot simpler. The disadvantage to doing this is you'll get all the crapware vendors foist off on their customers. It really doesn't care what hard drive you have in the computer. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 9:33 pm Posted by Chuck (2 messages posted) Others on this forum may think this is illegal, i don't know. You need to unlock your setupp.ini file. Enable hidden files. Create a folder on your hard drive. With your CD in the drive, copy the contents of the CD to the folder created earlier. Now look at this http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/setuppini.html. The Setupp.ini file is located in the I386 folder. You might want to uncheck the "Hide extensions for know file types" to be sure to get the correct file. Change the last 3 digits of the PID Value to OEM. Now using a program called N-Lite, make an ISO from this folder and create a new CD. You may also want to slipstream SP 3 into the installation. Now you have a retail XP install disk that will install with OEM keys. You will not have the bloatware. You will however have to download the necessary drivers. You will have to activate, most likely by phone. I have a retail copy of XP Home that I use frequently on computers with OEM keys. Have never had a problem to date with this method. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Comment about WinXP OEM CD Monday, September 22, 2008 at 8:11 am Posted by Kiwi (2212 messages posted) The first CD I had for XP (as I recall) was the generic OEM for small system builders (which includes myself, although I build only for myself, some family members, and an occasional friend). That CD is still in use, on one PC or another to this date, with no hiccoughs I can recall about hardware changes. As I have several PCs, I also have several XP CDs, mostly XP-Home. . Kiwi ** On Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm, geek9pm wrote: >Steve, I think maybe wrong on this. When you replace a major component, >like a hard drive, the OEM XP CD will not let you finish the installation. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Monday, September 22, 2008 at 11:43 am Posted by appleoddity (2343 messages posted) First, you install with that disc you have, using the key that goes with the disc. Then, you use this link: http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfhelp/XPPkuinst.aspx?displaylang=en&sGuid=6ed828ca-66fc-4a26-a991-c7ba283a5e54 to update your product key to the COA sticker on the bottom of the PC. A phone activation may entail, but honest answers to Microsoft will get your product reactivated. This is assuming you aren't using a bootlegged VLK version of XP pro on that disc. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 6:37 am Posted by Crash Override (2164 messages posted) What OS is the COA for? XP Pro or XP Home? I bet you are trying to use an XP Pro license key with an XP Pro disk. You can't mix them like that. Regards, Crash Override, MCP On Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 8:53 am, Evan wrote: >Here's my story! > >I bought a lenovo laptop that was originally setup by a University for a student. > >as soon as i bought it, the hard drive crashed. > >i got a new hard-drive and reinstalled xp-pro. > >the COA is on the bottom of the computer, but it is not working. > >the disk i used to install xp-pro was a copy given to me from the store that fixed >the computer. > >any ideas???? > >thanks in advance > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9:27 pm Posted by Dan Sarandrea, MCSE (7097 messages posted) Your Lenovo laptop will always be licensed to run the Microsoft Windows that is described on the Certificate of Authenticity (CoA). As Crash noted, you will have trouble trying to activate an XP Pro installation with an XP Home Product Key. Your best option is to order the Recovery CDs from Lenovo. If no joy there, try www.restoredisks.com. If still no joy, borrow a genuine, hologrammed systembuilder/OEM XP CD that matches the edition of XP as described on your CoA from a friend (DO NOT use an iso from bit torrent---guaranteed to be chock full of rootkits and viruses). Install XP using this genuine CD and the Product Key from YOUR CoA, and NOT from the CoA that came with the CD. Installation will complete normally. To activate, use the telephonic method rather than the automatic online method. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?' Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 10:41 pm Posted by Evan (2 messages posted) thank you for all the suggestions! i got it fixed by taking the computer to the university, and they somehow did it all for freeeeee! i appreciate your help. On Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9:27 pm, Dan Sarandrea, MCSE wrote: >Your Lenovo laptop will always be licensed to run the Microsoft Windows that is described >on the Certificate of Authenticity (CoA). > >As Crash noted, you will have trouble trying to activate an XP Pro installation with >an XP Home Product Key. > >Your best option is to order the Recovery CDs from Lenovo. If no joy there, try >www.restoredisks.com. > >If still no joy, borrow a genuine, hologrammed systembuilder/OEM XP CD that matches >the edition of XP as described on your CoA from a friend (DO NOT use an iso from >bit torrent---guaranteed to be chock full of rootkits and viruses). Install XP using >this genuine CD and the Product Key from YOUR CoA, and NOT from the CoA that came >with the CD. > >Installation will complete normally. To activate, use the telephonic method rather >than the automatic online method. 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