EVO N600C HDD replacemnt XP doesnt recognize

I had to replace the hard drive on my old faithfull EVO, I did not have the "QuickRestore CD kit for compaq evo N600c XP", got it w/out it, the installtion was smooth until it got time to imput the license, it did not recognized and prompted: Invalid Key pls...etc. etc. Note: there is is a sticker in the back, Microsoft has confirmed it as a valid license, but does not provide support because it was licenced to Compaq. Microsoft said that the old hard drive and the rest of the hardware was tied to the license, no help over there, any one knows about this? or where can I get a recovery cd for the Evo? This a licensing and harware problem, hardrive works like a charm, Bios is accessible and ok to, parttions ok too NTFS formatted and all.I am a newbie in this, any help would be much appreciated.

 

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I tried with a fresh instalation of W2000 Pro it went in and installed without a hitch, but when I tried to upgrade to XP, I got the same message, "invalid key", simply it will not take the xp installation.
If anyone knows of a way around the propietary Compaq hardware or how to clean the bios of any legacy installation it would be very much appreciated.
Currently the Evo is working fine with W200 pro runnning.

 

What you need is a HP OEM XP pro disk. Sounds like you have installed a retail version and it doesn't recognize the OEM key.

 

Thanks for your reply Ronbo, i agree with what you say, the question that follows is how I can erase the OEM key request from the Rom any ideas?
I was reading other postings, I found that in some cases when you have password locks it is possible to clear them by removing the CMOS battery, that brought the idea to do some surgery and try that, but I am holding until I get a visual or directions from someone that has disassembled an Evo and opened its insides, I personally have no clue where the battery is or how it looks. Again any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

By the way I forgot to ask you do you know where to get aan HP OEM XP pro disk? I could not find nothing in the hp website that indicated availability of a recovery CD's for old Evos.

 

You just need an OEM XP pro disc. Doesnt have to a HP disc.

You can do a clean install with this disc and you can download the drivers from the hp/compaq driver page.

 

Flipfire I have tried with a Dell oem disk, to no avail. I need to get hold of a XP pro Compaq oem recovery or install disk, if that seems to be the solution, beleive that an HP disk aint going to cut it either. But I'm willing to try, any idea as to where it can be purchased or requested?

 

Try ordering the discs from HP/Compaq? It will cost you money though.

I used a OEM XP pro disc(which came with my desktop) to do a reinstall on my compaq m2000

 

Diligently called HP this morning, only to find out that they are not supporting these old Compaq laptops any more, was refered then to a local service provider who admitedly does only "hardware" installations and repairs but no "software" reinstalls or loading, this local company is not interested in servicing either.

 

FF, I'm out of luck, tried getting help from HP again, but the outsourced technical support, that reads the answers to any inquire from a script, was another dead end too.