I just got off the phone with Microsoft, after the product activation failed. They said the product key off the sticker on the back of the machine is invalid; that I need to contact the company that sold me the machine. (he implied but didn't come right out and say it that the Windows sticker is counterfeit) I bought it from IBM several years ago, so I guess I'm pretty much *expletive deleted*ed since it's out of warranty. It's impossible to talk to a real IBM service person w/o a service contract, which they'll probably be happy to sell me for more than what the machine is worth.
I know an IBMer with a MSDN (sp?) license, I'm gonna talk to him next.
It's a Thinkpad T520. I have another Thinkpad 420s with the exact same version and license of Windows. I wonder if I make a recovery disk on that machine if it will install and activate on the 520? Some of the drivers might be a little different, but I can deal with that.