XP PRO PRODUCT ID NOT VALID

i have an issue with the installation of Xp Pro. the hd was full of trojans
that i could not get rid of. the trojans got so deep they disabled network
connection. i have wiped the hard drive completely clean with killdisk. on
the new installation of xp pro (which was the previous OS) it installs fine
until it comes the product id screen. i receive an error of "Product ID I
have entered is not valid" what is going on and how do i fix it? the xp disk
seems to be a retail upgrade version.

Are you sure it's asking for the Product ID? During the installation process you
are asked to enter the Product Key. The Product ID can only be found after a
successful installation.

If you're installing an upgrade version, and you're performing a clean
installation, it should ask for a previous installation CD for validation.

If it hasn't ask for that, you're either installing an OEM version or a Retail
version. If it's rejecting the Product Key you're entering, either it's not the
correct one or you're entering it incorrectly.

See if any of these tech articles help:

You receive an error message after you enter the product key when you try to
install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310637/

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316941&Product=winxp


"allen" <allen DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B3EF6DD6-0037-4CC3-84A9-695D5E9CC502@microsoft.com...
>i have an issue with the installation of Xp Pro. the hd was full of trojans
> that i could not get rid of. the trojans got so deep they disabled network
> connection. i have wiped the hard drive completely clean with killdisk. on
> the new installation of xp pro (which was the previous OS) it installs fine
> until it comes the product id screen. i receive an error of "Product ID I
> have entered is not valid" what is going on and how do i fix it? the xp disk
> seems to be a retail upgrade version.