Darn, I'm way behind. I'm still trying to figure out how to install WIN XP (new, clean install) and get around the verification thing. (Those servers are no longer in operation, so it won't verify a new install). I have a couple of vintage machines and new copies of the OS, but can't get over 30 days out of the install without the verification.
Try Linux Mint or Ubuntu. If the machine is at least a dual core, it'll run better off 64bit linux than it ever thought of in Windows.
But if you must insist, there is a known WGA problem if using a pre-SP2 number to activate an SP2+ installation. This has been known to those of us who slipstream updates into our installation cabs for years.
The only legit way around that problem is to select phone within activation and get a new number.
The only other thing you can do, if the phone number doesn't work, is to get a fully slip'd copy (all available updates contained within), and apply one of the WGA cracks to get it to STFU, and shut off updates.
I could help, I guess, but it would be a while. It's been a year or better since I have even installed XP, not to mention crack it for any reason.
Try a linux derivative. Once you get it, you won;t go back. The only reason I stay in Winders is because I fix them, and I have to keep up on it... Otherwise I'd have been a linux dawg a long time ago.