Frank said:
Elaboration:
Up until here recently I used to do a clean install with a XPHome slipstreamed
CD. I would then enter the product code from the box. It usually just activated
over the net, very seldom needed a phone call. I tried this the other day in order
to get rid of all the extras on a new Toshiba laptop. It flat out rejected the product
key from the box.
Was the Slipstreamed CD made from an OEM CD originally? It would have
had to have been, for an OEM Product Key to work. Product Keys are
bound to the specific type and language of CD/license (OEM, Volume,
retail, full, or Upgrade) with which they are purchased. For example, a
WinXP Home OEM Product Key won't work for any retail version of WinXP
Home, or for any version of WinXP Pro, and vice versa. An upgrade's
Product Key cannot be used with a full version CD, and vice versa. An
OEM Product Key will not work to install a retail product. An Italian
Product Key will not work with an English CD. Bottom line: Product Keys
and CD types cannot be mixed & matched.
Additionally, even if your slipstreamed CD was made from an old branded
OEM CD, it may no longer work. Some time ago, Microsoft disabled the
CDs/Product Keys from most major OEMs such as Dell from activating via
the Internet. (This was in response to the large number of the branded
OEM CDs being illegally (without the computer) resold vis eBay, computer
fairs, etc.)
I finally got to a telephone rep and they told me that I either
had to buy a new copy of XP or use the restore DVD.
If the Phone rep understood you to be trying to replace the laptop's
installation with an OS that you already have admitted to using and
activating, he was correct, based on the information you've provided.
If you don't want to use the OS that came with the laptop, then you'd
need to purchase another license.
I worked with this for
three days, (many restores), I could get rid of most of the trial offers. I could
not get rid of the Office 2003 trial, MSWorks trial, or AOL. The way that XP
is preinstalled on some of these new computers is nothing more than a marketing
scam.
That's certainly true of many of the major OEMs; it requires the
purchaser to do a few minutes of product research to ensure that he
doesn't get something he doesn't want.
When I pay for something I expect to use it the way that I want it to
be used without paying for another copy. However this is not the way it is.
You seem to have it backwards, here. You purchased the product and
then subsequently determined that it wasn't the way you like. You're
supposed to decide that *before* making the purchase. It's remarkably
simple: if the vendor doesn't offer the product you want, all you have
to do is take your business elsewhere. But complaining about what you
got after you bought it is just a waste of time: you got exactly what
you paid for.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell
