Win XP Reinstall Question

[Teepo]

So i recently reistalled windows on my laptop, i used the same serial code that came with my laptop and the widows xp disc, this has happened to me before mind you. When i go to update windows it makes me "Activate" windows so i type the serial in and its promts me to call Microsoft cause my serial number is invalid....seriously this same crap happened on my desktop when i got a new motherboard and hard drive, So i called and waited on hold for an hour and said fuck that, anyone know a way around this without calling? I want to update and bring my laptop up to speed lol. When i called for my desktop last yeah i got some bitter lady that was a bitch, and all she did was give me some uber long uber i typed in.

[Okan]

Register by internet worked for me.

[Tidusin]

When i called for my desktop last yeah i got some bitter lady that was a bitch, and all she did was give me some uber long uber i typed in.

Yeah, I hate those idiots on the other end because 95% of the time they'll give you attitude, talk to you like you're stupid, or just tell you something that you could figure out on your own and you just wanna tell 'em F*** you! And, that's, as quoted before, after you've been on hold for hours waiting for someone to finally pick up and answer your question.

[neighbortaru]

it happens because you already activated that copy of window so regular over the internet activation won't work. nothing you can really do about that, it's MS's silly policy.

here's a tip for next time though, after you install windows and activate and BEFORE you install anything else, ghost/image your C: partition. that way, if you need to restore to a clean install, just restore your image and you won't have to worry about the activation.