Hi all.  Several years ago I bought two copies of XP Home w/SP1 for computers
that I built for myself and my wife.  Over the past weekend I had to reload
both machines for various reasons.  I could only find one of the CDs, and one
of the product keys, so I went ahead and used the same CD and product key to
reload both.  I found the second CD later, but the little piece of cellophane
with the second 25-character key is nowhere to be found--through a move, a
baby, and many life changes, it was a miracle enough to find the CDs!  But
since it worked, I didn't think anything else about it (I thought I heard
somewhere they weren't worrying about activation anymore anyway?), installed
SP2 and all the upgrades, and we went on our merry way.

So yesterday, when I installed some DVD-ROM software on my wife's machine,
XP yelled at me saying that I needed to re-activate because I changed
hardware (which I *hadn't* since the initial activation Sunday) and that I
had to use a new product key.  So now I'm stuck.  I can't find the second
product key, it says it won't let me use the first one again, and the clock's
ticking.  I can't use a utility to extract the product key on my wife's
because I used the same CD and product key on both machines, so I'm not sure
what to do.  And I really don't want to have to spend well over $100 on
something *that I already have*, which is XP Home.

Has my losing that tiny piece of paper doomed me to spend money on another
license, or is there a way to get around this?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Lewis Gregory
Richmond, VA