Why can't I activate Windows XP?

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Getting the key from the disc doesn't work. It will get you through the first hurdle, but fails when you try to activate it online.

Thank you, I went through exactly the same problem and process with the same lack of assistance from Microsoft and gave up when I found this article.
It is certainly a shame it is such a hassle, but at least there is a solution!

Leo, just by sheer accident I hit the "updates are ready for your computer button" and I went through this whole mess of installation! Now, I have only 26 days left to activate and I have no idea in the world what to do! I typed in how to install and your site came up--thank goodness!However, I am not Lingo Literate yet, so can you please talk me through this process in plain terms. I have a Toshiba M35X-S1142 notebook, and the scary part, it does not belong to me and I have to give it back soon! Is it possible to reverse and uninstall this, because I heard that Windows explorer 8 is too difficult to work with.
Please help, any help will be dearly appreciated!

This might be useful to somebody.I have an old legit.xp installation disk with product code.Microsoft will no longer activate it,but what I have found is that it will install and activate with no problems in Virtualbox.I'm running Linux Mint.

I did the same exact thing you did but when I got to the welcome screen the activation window came up again and says it needs to be activated so I click yes and instead of the screen that normaly comes up that asks you if you want to connect to the internet the window says that windows is already activated so I restarted and the activation window still pops up. I am able to go into safe mode maybe there is something I can do from in there. please help me.

thank you so much. Your information was fantastic and was so easy to use even for me. After been on the phone to them i still had no idea what was wrong until you explained it. after 12 hrs trying myself i am up and running after an hour of finding your site. Thanks again your amazing

Wow, THANK YOU! I had a similar situation. Recently I had to replace my MoBo and PSU. Due to the significant hardware profile change, Windows wanted me to re-activate, so I tried...unfortunately as it was a new mobo the drivers for the onboard NIC weren't installed yet. So I couldn't activate over the internet, and I couldn't get into Windows (actually it's really that I didn't know the whole Safe Mode work around) to install the drivers so I could get on the internet. My experiences with tech calls have filled me the cynical apprehension that a 10 minute solution will take an hour or more to implement. Luckily I found this awesome article. I booted up into safe mode, no network support, then went into the system properties found the ugly yellow question marked hardware and loaded the drivers. Reboot into normal mode and *BAM* re-activation, ready to go. Again, THANK YOU!

BTW - I have a dual boot system. Ubuntu had no problem with the hardware. That's how I managed to get on the internet and find your article.

I don't know how i ended up here...but if anyone can help me great..I bought a second hand computer that I thought was going to be fine...upon starting the computer message pops up. I do not have a startup menu....It's my understanding from the person I bought the computer from had the system cleaned out...the IT person installed or used vista .......... and now I cannot use the windows xp that was installed on the computer. It's recognizing vista as the operating system i believe. I am so computer stupid when it comes to the technical part of them...I have tried to validate with no success...it prompts me to activate from the startup menu and I can't get there...I have no idea what to do. Can anyone help me as I am totally clueless...Thanks

5 Step to acivate
1)Change product Key(user different)
2)click on Back
3)Click log me off
4)Click on administrator icon
5)It will direct you to home and then activate your windows

Your problems are almost identical to mines. And everything you said made me shake my head in agreement. I did not call support but here is my problem. I do not get an option to go into “safe mode”.
I have a Dell Dimension 3000 desktop with the Dell Microsoft Windows OEM. When I go to the boot options menu I get 8 options. None of them is for “Safe Mode”. Any suggestions?

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