I installed Windows XP Home on Parallels with a 8000MB virtual HD, but there were problems with the installation some time after activation, so I had to reinstall Windows. I reinstalled Windows XP using the same virtual HD image, just choose to reformat it when the Windows Installer asked so, but then I found that activation signature is different and I have to activate with a different set of number again. Is there actually a way to reinstall Windows without the need for a new activation code? The lesson of this is that I should install Windows and activate for once, then clone the disk image and back it up somewhere. Next time there is a need to reinstall, just copy the disk image back to you hard drive and go on from there.
