Gil Mascarenhas said:
Sir,
I would like to know how to deactivate the product key
which was activated with the wrong product key.
There are a couple of things you can do. One is a registry change, the
other is a re-install. In either case, you should be sure that you've
backed up any remotely important data, and if you have XP PRO and have
enabled encryption, BACK UP AND VERIFY THE CERTIFICATES.
Given that, this page shows how to change the product key:
http://www.labmice.net/WindowsXP/articles/changeID.htm
You can re-run the install, but there are some caveats - when you are asked
to choose the disk and partition to install to, be sure you choose to leave
the file system as is (or you will invoke formatting). THen, be sure you
install to the same directory. Enter the correct product key at the
appropriate time.
HTH
-pk
