Won't install Win XP SP2

A friend gave me a seven year old Dell 4100 running XP Pro. It actually dual
boots to Win 2000 Pro also. That (not this machine) won't install Win XP SP 2
because the copy of the OS "may not be valid". C'mon, this machine's been
sitting around in a garage for five years. I'm pretty sure it's a valid copy,
as my friend's father is absolutely, impeccably honest. Is there any way
around this?

Chris wrote:
> A friend gave me a seven year old Dell 4100 running XP Pro. It
> actually dual boots to Win 2000 Pro also. That (not this machine)
> won't install Win XP SP 2 because the copy of the OS "may not be
> valid". C'mon, this machine's been sitting around in a garage for
> five years. I'm pretty sure it's a valid copy, as my friend's
> father is absolutely, impeccably honest. Is there any way around
> this?

When do you get this message?
What exactly are you doing?

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