Win XP Home Activation Problem

Sorry in advance if this question has been asked before:

I am working on a friend's hand-me down computer (Sony Vaio PCVRS430G) that
had genuine WinXPHome installed. The XP Home Product ID sticker IS on the
computer case. The hard drive died and I have installed a new one. No one
has access to the original WinXPHome install disk for this computer. I do,
however, have the WinXPHome install disk from my own personal installation
(also a geniune copy).

Can I use my install disk in combination with the product key attached to
the Sony? Or am I going to have to buy a new copy of XP to get the Sony up
and running again?

From what I've read so far, I can't tell if this would be a problem.

Thanks so much!

Chris wrote:
> Sorry in advance if this question has been asked before:
>
> I am working on a friend's hand-me down computer (Sony Vaio
> PCVRS430G) that had genuine WinXPHome installed. The XP Home
> Product ID sticker IS on the computer case. The hard drive died
> and I have installed a new one. No one has access to the original
> WinXPHome install disk for this computer. I do, however, have the
> WinXPHome install disk from my own personal installation (also a
> geniune copy).
>
> Can I use my install disk in combination with the product key
> attached to the Sony? Or am I going to have to buy a new copy of
> XP to get the Sony up and running again?
>
> From what I've read so far, I can't tell if this would be a problem.

No one can tell you if it will be a problem.

If it is an OEM version and not BIOS locked to a specific brand/model - it
*may* work fine with said product key.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

The Sony key is for an Sony OEM version, if your cd is for a generic OEM
edition it should be OK

"Chris" <Chris@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:49E9C559-94BD-4BC0-8E4B-23A083FC2C76@microsoft.com...
> Sorry in advance if this question has been asked before:
>
> I am working on a friend's hand-me down computer (Sony Vaio PCVRS430G)
> that
> had genuine WinXPHome installed. The XP Home Product ID sticker IS on the
> computer case. The hard drive died and I have installed a new one. No
> one
> has access to the original WinXPHome install disk for this computer. I
> do,
> however, have the WinXPHome install disk from my own personal installation
> (also a geniune copy).
>
> Can I use my install disk in combination with the product key attached to
> the Sony? Or am I going to have to buy a new copy of XP to get the Sony
> up
> and running again?
>
> From what I've read so far, I can't tell if this would be a problem.
>
> Thanks so much!

FYI - Tried installing my disk with the Sony key, everything appears to have
installed correctly. Thanks!


"DL" wrote:

> The Sony key is for an Sony OEM version, if your cd is for a generic OEM
> edition it should be OK
>
> "Chris" <Chris@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:49E9C559-94BD-4BC0-8E4B-23A083FC2C76@microsoft.com...
> > Sorry in advance if this question has been asked before:
> >
> > I am working on a friend's hand-me down computer (Sony Vaio PCVRS430G)
> > that
> > had genuine WinXPHome installed. The XP Home Product ID sticker IS on the
> > computer case. The hard drive died and I have installed a new one. No
> > one
> > has access to the original WinXPHome install disk for this computer. I
> > do,
> > however, have the WinXPHome install disk from my own personal installation
> > (also a geniune copy).
> >
> > Can I use my install disk in combination with the product key attached to
> > the Sony? Or am I going to have to buy a new copy of XP to get the Sony
> > up
> > and running again?
> >
> > From what I've read so far, I can't tell if this would be a problem.
> >
> > Thanks so much!
>
>
>

Provided it activated OK your good to go then

"Chris" <Chris@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD5CD9B8-77C0-4874-B6E7-C5EF5DA47A81@microsoft.com...
> FYI - Tried installing my disk with the Sony key, everything appears to
> have
> installed correctly. Thanks!
>
>
> "DL" wrote:
>
>> The Sony key is for an Sony OEM version, if your cd is for a generic OEM
>> edition it should be OK
>>
>> "Chris" <Chris@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:49E9C559-94BD-4BC0-8E4B-23A083FC2C76@microsoft.com...
>> > Sorry in advance if this question has been asked before:
>> >
>> > I am working on a friend's hand-me down computer (Sony Vaio PCVRS430G)
>> > that
>> > had genuine WinXPHome installed. The XP Home Product ID sticker IS on
>> > the
>> > computer case. The hard drive died and I have installed a new one. No
>> > one
>> > has access to the original WinXPHome install disk for this computer. I
>> > do,
>> > however, have the WinXPHome install disk from my own personal
>> > installation
>> > (also a geniune copy).
>> >
>> > Can I use my install disk in combination with the product key attached
>> > to
>> > the Sony? Or am I going to have to buy a new copy of XP to get the
>> > Sony
>> > up
>> > and running again?
>> >
>> > From what I've read so far, I can't tell if this would be a problem.
>> >
>> > Thanks so much!
>>
>>
>>