first i would like to say that im not sure where this belongs. because its a mix of hardware and software. that being said. here goes. my friend has this really out dated PC and my friends and i decided to give him our old-ish computer parts (mother board processor ) basically everything but his hard drive. we installed everything with minimal problems we turn on the computer and we log onto his windows XP account. and the sound doesnt work , his network controller is missing and other drivers are missing. i cant remember them off the top of my head. so we decide to do a repair instal of windows. he goes and gets his XP disc and "his" activation code. we put it all in run the repair and when it installs it boots up and tells us that the activation key is not valid . my friend told me that he opened a new XP that he had and used that key. is there any way to retrieve the original key or are going to have to reformat? thanks a bunch for the help. sorry if it doesnt make sense . im just very frustrated right now.