XP License problem

[Furtwangler]

I'm trying to fix my friends laptop, and I had to reformat it since it was horrendous and I couldnt remove all the crap he had on it. I used that tool to pull the XP license number off the comp before I deleted everything, then I reformatted and installed xp with an old dell xp cd I have laying around.
When I go to stick in the license that was there before I get a Product key Unauthorized msg, and I tried using the key on the bottom of the laptop, and get a Product key Invalid msg, so idk what to do halp

[Isiolia]

Is his laptop a Dell too? Dell CD will need a Dell OEM key.

[Furtwangler]

sorry mis info, the lappy is a dell, the cd is some random no name company cd that just appeared in my room some day, I ripped the old license key off the comp so that one should work again no?

[Isiolia]

If the sticker matches the CD, it -should-. If it's not from that CD, then most likely you have a key for a differently licensed copy. You've got regular OEM, manufacturer OEM, retail, etc.

If it's an OEM copy, it likely won't activate even if it did accept the key. Part of the OEM license is that it's installed on one computer only, ever, can't be transferred. I think people have sometimes called MS and gotten them to let it reactivate, but generally (even from MS support forums), OEM copies will only be activated for the hardware they came on.