On Jan 20, 8:00 pm, "philo" wrote:
snip



Anyways, back to Raj (don't know if they routed me back to him, or it
was random chance that I got the same guy again), and again, he
couldn't help me, but suggested I talk to tech support (again).

I don't get it, how can it be an unauthorized key if Microsoft's own
people acknowledge that it's a valid key that's never been activated
before? Is it something I'm screwing up?

George:

First off check the sytem date and time to be sure it's correct.
An incorrect setting might possibly account for the problem?

The system time is correct. Assuming Microsoft's "time.windows.com"
time server is accurate.

I wonder though. I am running my internet connection through a
Linksys router that's been having trouble keeping time (even using a
time server, it forgets the date and resets to 2002 until the next
time server hit). Though I would have thought if that were a
problem, I would have had issues activating Vista, as both XP and
Vista were installed on the same machine. Separate partitions, dual
boot. It's what I was doing before I got this copy of XP OEM, so the
dual boot shouldn't be a problem. Aside from the boot loader, both
XP and Vista are totally separate and don't interact.



You are normally a polite person I'm sure. Perhaps you need to slightly less
polite next time and refuse to be transferred.
If they say the key is legit and not in use...they are obligated to activate
your system.

Perhaps, though it seems Microsoft's internal bureaucracy is becoming
a lot like the government's. That being that one department can't do
anything that belongs to another's. I'll give it another shot
tomorrow.

However cover your bases first and be sure they key is not for Xp Home.
If you have a legit XP Home key, it will not activate XP -Pro.

Well, the COA says "Windows XP Professional, OEM Software" on it, and
the disc says "For Distribution with a new PC Only" and "WindowsXP
Professional." I guess that means the key and disc match.