actvation screen /different computer

hello everyone,

i have a hdd that that keeps coming to the activation/registration screen then will not let me logon. i am trying to reformat the hdd and no matter how i set the boot order it comes back to the same screen. i am going to try formating it as a second drive, any other suggestions ? john

Are you trying to format a drive that is installed as slave? You do not need the xp cd to do this, you can do this in windows disk management.