Exact images still might not include the master boot record and such. In linux, dd if=/dev/hda1 is not going to grab the MBR, but /dev/hda would. I don't doubt Mark's skills (including his non technical ones like cooking ), just trying to make sure he didn't overlook something simple.

The reason I have a feeling something fixable is going on is because I have never seen XP act like this with the activation. It always tries to kick into a mode where you can call Microsoft if the protection is being tripped. And to add to my doubt, I have changed more hardware then just a hard drive, and not run into XP protection.