I have a very serious problem. After my XP Home OS was trashed by rogue software - a trial of a thing named TuneUp - I did a clean install, including HDD reformat of Windows XP Pro from a purchased OEM disk. This was Service Pack 2, subsequently upgraded to SP3. I had conclusively mislaid the product key. I had to access data on the machine VERY urgently and I did not then know that under some circumstances Microsoft might agree to provide a replacement.

I found what I now know must have been a pirate key on the Net which enabled installation but NOT activation. This of course left me functional but 30 days before meltdown - about 20 days left as I write this. Various retailers want around £100 for retail with matching product key. - this would be paying twice over just to continue use on the same computer. I have neither need nor intention of installing XP Pro on any other computer.

I have tried a number of applications claiming to deal with this problem but none of them work. A Belarc profile shows that the pirate key has replaced the original one on the system. I have now found two keys, one of which might be the original, but neither work. I am about to upgrade the HDD and it looks like I will just be passing the problem on when I install XP. I have retrieved a key from the disk, but it is seemingly one Microsoft use in production and does not work. It is 76487-OEM-0015242-71798.

The keys I have, one of which which might or might not be the original, are CD87T-HFP4G-V7X7H-8VY68-W7D7M and FC8GV-8Y7G7-XKD7P-Y47XF-P829W (or P819W - I believe it to be the latter, but the box will not accept it). The pirate key which has enabled this install and which is now stored on the system but will not activate is QQHHK-T4DKG-74KG7-BQB9G-W47KG. In these circumstances is it likely that Microsoft would issue a replacement? Is there any other solution? I am not trying to defraud anyone, just to keep on using the product I legitimately bought.

Bill