Alright, it's slightly more complicated than that. I originally tried to
install from my old disk of XP (without any service packs) on a brand new 320
gig HD. Because this version of Windows XP doesn't allow a 320 gig partition,
and apparently most of the drivers that came with my motherboard/tower that I
just bought don't work on it, I installed SP2, but this gave me the blue
screen of death on reboot. I was only able to load in safe mode. The guy from
the store I bought my motherboard from told me I needed to install from a
disk that has SP2 (or 3), and I'd be able to use the product key from my old
CD, but it told me that the product key was invalid. Is this because I'm
installing a different version of XP, or do I need to get a new Key now? This
has been the most annoying PC related ordeal ever...

From your statement you installed sp2, I'm assuming you managed to install to
a smaller partition, and it worked till sp2.
Please list your motherboard manufactor, type and model as well as CPU.


"gazelam" wrote:

> Alright, it's slightly more complicated than that. I originally tried to
> install from my old disk of XP (without any service packs) on a brand new 320
> gig HD. Because this version of Windows XP doesn't allow a 320 gig partition,
> and apparently most of the drivers that came with my motherboard/tower that I
> just bought don't work on it, I installed SP2, but this gave me the blue
> screen of death on reboot. I was only able to load in safe mode. The guy from
> the store I bought my motherboard from told me I needed to install from a
> disk that has SP2 (or 3), and I'd be able to use the product key from my old
> CD, but it told me that the product key was invalid. Is this because I'm
> installing a different version of XP, or do I need to get a new Key now? This
> has been the most annoying PC related ordeal ever...

gazelam wrote:
> Alright, it's slightly more complicated than that. I originally
> tried to install from my old disk of XP (without any service packs)
> on a brand new 320 gig HD. Because this version of Windows XP
> doesn't allow a 320 gig partition, and apparently most of the
> drivers that came with my motherboard/tower that I just bought
> don't work on it, I installed SP2, but this gave me the blue screen
> of death on reboot. I was only able to load in safe mode. The guy
> from the store I bought my motherboard from told me I needed to
> install from a disk that has SP2 (or 3), and I'd be able to use the
> product key from my old CD, but it told me that the product key was
> invalid. Is this because I'm installing a different version of XP,
> or do I need to get a new Key now? This has been the most annoying
> PC related ordeal ever...

First - all you need to do to fix your older installation CD is to update
it... Integrate (some call it slipstream) the latest service pack (SP3) into
the installation media and create a new CD from that integrated media.
Essentially - pre-SP1 Windows XP media could not recognize large hard disk
drives.

The guy from the store you bought the motherboard from was mis-informed or
just wrong about needing SP2 or greater - you do need SP1 or greater media
though to install properly (and recognize the full size) on your large hard
disk drive.

As for using a different CD - you can - if it is the same type (generic OEM,
Retail or Retail Upgrade being the most common for home consumers) and
version (Windows Xp Home, Professional, Media Center, etc) as what your
product key is for.

Essentially - I see a couple of obvious choices for you:

1) Integrate (slipstream) SP3 into your own installation media, burn a new
CD and use that SP3-ified CD to do your install.
2) Use the SP2 integrated CD you 'borrowed' from someone obviously - with
the key for that CD - to do your installation and then use a free tool from
Microsoft to change the product key on your machine (installed and happy) to
your own product key.

Either of those would work - I would recommend the first.

As for the drivers - yes - you will need to download and have ready the
drivers for every piece of hardware in your machine. Motherboard chipset,
video card, network card, modem (if any), wi-fi (if any), sound card, etc...
Windows XP may have generic drivers for some of those things - but since
Microsoft is unlikely to have been the manufacturer of many (if any) of your
hardware components - why would you expect them to support said components?
*grin*

If you want more specifics - those can be given. You could also search
using a web search engine - like google - given the keywords and such from
above. The choice is yours. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html