install a legit version of XP

  Basically i did a dumb move. i tried to install a legit version of XP on 2 computers. One of my computers will now not log in as it asks me to activate it via purchasing a new key. So i wann re-install XP (fake) but it will not allow me as it says that the XP currently installed is a newer version. Soooo, i reboot the PC from the CD drive but then after all the setup files have loaded the Blue Screen of Death appears and i need to restart the computer. Safe mode does work and so does DOS mode

Anwers:

If you don't know what to do, it's best for you to get a friend who knows how to do it to fix this kind of problem. it's actually very easy to fix, but it's hard to explain it.First you have to pop in the windows xp disk. then restart your computer, and it will say "press any key to boot from cd..." then you press any key. you after the file loaded, delete the partition and use the quick way to format your computer. Then Files will start copying, usually take around 10-20minutes. After that, you need to enter your CD key and follow the instructions.

reinstall Windows XP Home SP2

  Because of repeated errors I decided to reinstall Windows XP Home SP2 through a set of recovery CD's provided by the PC manufacturer. (I do not have a regular installation CD.) I backed up my My Documents folder to my external hard drive in a cut and paste operation in Windows Explorer that I have performed successfully in the past.I selected a so-called destructive recovery and, as expected, was warned that a full format would be conducted with the loss of all data. (I doubt that any such format occurred, but that's another issue.) I proceeded as in the past umpteen times I have had to use system recovery.I set about reinstalling and updating my most important applications.

  Then I transferred the contents of my backup to the new My Documents folder. It went as expected. Next, I set about reinstalling my other applications.One of those was Google Picasa. I had it search "My Documents" for photos and other images. It found and indexed some images that I didn't want in Picasa. This was expected. However it didn't find any of the more than 3000 photos in "My Pictures."I opened Windows Explorer and found that the My Pictures subfolders I had set up were present. All were empty. I checked my other document folders and found the correct folders, which also were empty. I had backed up my "Bookmarks" folder. While the subfolders were there, none of my over 1000 bookmarks were present either.It looked like a complete disaster, or so I thought.A few days later I opened Picasa. To my surprise and delight, Picasa found and indexed all of my missing photos! I concluded that they had to be on the drive, just not accessable in Windows Explorer.

  I confirmed this by searching for individual photos by name in both Google Desktop Search and Windows Search. Both found the photos sought.Next I searched for music files by the name of the artist. They also were found. I repeated all of these searches on my external hard drive with the same results.I believe that all of my missing files are on both hard drives. I don't know whether to blame Windows for screwing up the back up and restore operations or the manufacturer's recovery software for screwing up the reinstallation of Windows.This is the worst PC screw-up I have ever encountered in 15 years of using most of the Windows versions available in that period. BTW, I could perform another system recovery, but in light of my latest experience I am somewhat reluctant to use it.I would appreciate some advice about this unacceptable situation and what I might do to correct it