Re: XP product ID on trashed HDD

Thanks for your answer To answer your first question -- the reason I posted
instead of talking to the technician is that he (or the shop) is the reason I
am in the fix to begin with. They activated my computer instead of letting me
do it.

But the bright side is, using the keyfinder, I discovered that he apparently
activated me with a key different than the one I gave him to get me up and
running temporarily, so I am not in danger (I take it) of having the computer
from which I borrowed that product ID deactivated.

I guess he got the key from HP or somewhere -- I am told that technicians
can somehow get an XP installation activated and validated legitimately. I'm
just going to assume all is well.

But it seems from what I have read that the key is found somewhere in the
registry (which is what I dimly remember from a previous incident), so would
still like to know how to get at that. I recall it being a matter of copying
a file or two. The utility you pointed me to, and others, will find the key
on an existing installation, but I'd like to find it of a drive that has the
recovered files, but is not a boot drive with XP installed and running.

Again, many thanks for your help.

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

In news:48090B67-3DE2-440D-BB7A-67B94303189E@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
sinnfinn <sinnfinn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Two questions, hope someone can help me:

1. If I go to Accessories, System tools and there is no sub
option to
Activate Windows (per article 810892), does this mean that
this copy
of Windows XP SP2 HAS been activated?

2. My HDD crashed, and my new hard drive has Windows XP on
it. I gave
the technician a product ID from another computer already in
use,
wanting to activate the new system later with the product ID
that was
on the crashed hard drive. But it looks to me, per # 1 above,
that
the technician already activated the new drive with the "in
use"
system. I imagine that I have 30 days before one or the other
of
these system stops working.

I cannot find the original product ID for the crashed system.
But if
I can recover the data, I may have that ID stored in a
document or
spread***. OR I understood that there is a file that I can
retrieve
from the crashed drive that will set up the new system as a
valid XP
installation.

So a) how would I "unactivate" a spurious activation? b) how
can I
get the valid ID/license information from the crashed drive
to the
new drive?

Thanks very much if you can help

Just out of curiosity, why aren't you asking the technician who
installed XP these questions?

Note: Do not under any circumstances include the CD keys you
find with the utilities listed below to any response you may
post to this or any other newsgroup. OK, let's get to your
questions.

First off, have you tried going to Windows Update to see if
your installation can be validated? You can download a utility
from Microsoft that will tell you whether your installation is
legal.

Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012

It's been my experience that the "Activate Windows" shortcut
will be missing on the Start menu of XP computers manufactured
by large companies such as Dell or HP. They use what's called
an SLP key to install XP. This process does not require
activation. If your system came from such a company, the
technician may have had the appropriate media to complete the
installation.

To see if your system has been activated do the following;

Hit the Windows key + R to launch the Run box.
Enter the following next to where it says Open.

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /A

Download this program to check what key was used to install XP
on your computer.

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

This information will confirm if your second CD key was used.

As for your second question, I know of no way to retrieve an XP
CD key from an installation that cannot boot.

To retrieve data from your old drive you would need to connect
it to your working system as a slave drive. Make sure both hard
drives are jumpered correctly. Look on the top of each drive
for the proper configuration.

Once you have the old drive in place, you'll probably have to
disable Simple File Sharing and take ownership of your old
files. Take a look at these articles for more info;

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

Note: If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you
must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an
account that has Administrative rights to have access to the
Security tab. To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter.

Good luck

Nepatsfan




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