Windows product key is valid but wont activate

product-keyreinstallwindows xp

Last month, I needed to install Windows XP (Pro Version 2002 SP3) from a Reinstallation CD a co-worker gave me, and with a product key the IT team told me to use.

Everything installed successfully and I have been using the XP machine for the last 30 days without any problems; however it kept reminding me to activate Windows, and of course, I never did (laziness).

It now has me locked out of my machine and won't let me log in until I activate it. So I proceed to the Activation Screen which asks me:

Do you want to activate Windows now?

I choose "Yes, let's activate Windows over the Internet now.", and click the Next button. It now asks me:

Do you want to register while you are activating Windows?

I choose "No, I don't want to register now; let's just activate Windows.", and click the Next button.

I now see the following screen:

enter image description here

Notice how the title reads "Unauthorized product key", and how there are only 3 buttons:

  • Telephone
  • Remind me later
  • Retry

Please note that the Retry button is disabled until I enter the full product key that IT gave me, then it enables. However, at no point in time do I see a Next button, indicating that the product key was valid/successful.

So instead, I just click the Retry button, and the screen refreshes, this time with a different title

Incorrect product key

enter image description here

Could something be wrong with the Windows XP reinstallation CD (do they "expire" after a certain amount of time, etc.)? Or is this the normal/typical workflow for what happens when you just have a bad product key? I ask because, after this happened I emailed IT and they supplied me whether several other product keys to try. But every time its the same result, same thing happening over again and again.

So I guess it's possible that IT has given me several bad keys, but it's more likely something else is going on here. Any thoughts or ways to troubleshoot? Thanks in advance!

Best Answer

Microsoft will de-authorize a key if it is used too often. They are doing this with many key types and I know they announced MSDN and TechNet keys would be under more scrutiny. This may be teh case here and the key has been tried too often.

If the Key is for the wrong type of media, the error would be different.

As suggested, a call to Microsoft would address this. I have had a similar issue and a 10 minute call solved the issue.

If they feel the key is used for piracy, you are likely out of luck.

Do you have an XP COA on your computer?

As noted by @ Darth Android this looks like an OEM install disk and it is odd that IT would have OEM keys to randomly hand out.

BTW, how do you know the key is valid?

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