windows xp mce not accepting my product key?

[illmaticone]

i have a vaio media center, which i decided to freshly install mce to rid of sony's bullcrap.

now i'm using media center mce 2005 sp2 install disk, and it will not accept my product key (which is listed on the sticker on the pc)

any idea?

i kno for xp pro, there are 3 versions, retial, oem, corp.. and your key will only work with the proper version.

could it be i'm using a retial version of mce and not an oem?

 

[kcnychief]

If you bought a PC with MCE on it, and you are using a CD that was obtained with your computer, and your key is not working, I would call the manufacturer of your computer and ask them for assistance.

Perhaps they can get you another key or CD or something.

 

[illmaticone]

the mce i'm using is not from my computer, its seperate

 

[kcnychief]

Well since the copy is "seperate", it should have come with a product key. Where did the CD come from?

 

[illmaticone]

borrowed the mce disk from a friend who bought it, so i figure his legit copy + my legit key = happy me.

 

[kcnychief]

Well then in that particular case, I would think the two would not match.

His CD is retail, your Key would be OEM.

But, you should be able to call Sony and get a restore CD. I know that's not optimal since you don't want all their "bloat", but that is probably the only way to get your system LEGALLY useable again.

 

[madmatt]

You can't purchase MCE at the retail level. It is OEM only.