Re: Product Identification

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"BobS" <BSTexas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eAeWHOXqJHA.5832@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Some genious in our small office (10 people) decided that it was best
to store all software at a central location rather than with the PC.
People and computers have come and gone and we now have a cabinet full
of software that no one knows what software goes with what computer.
Using Belarc Advisor I can identify the product code and software
license key from each machine. My question is, how do I identify the
associated CD (Windows and Office) with information obtained from each
computer?

Need more information. What kind of computers? Are these Dells or some
other big-name OEM PCs? Or were they built to order by a system builder?
Are any of the disks Upgrade CDs? The answers to these questions will
determine the kind of licenses you have. That is, they might be Retail
licenses. But more likely, they are OEM licenses. But you need to tell
us first.

Keep in mind that these disks are often interchageable anyway. That is,
there is nothing unique about them -- there is no product key hard-coded
in the CDs themselves. Your keys should already be on COA (Certificate
of Authenticity) stickers affixed to your PCs. Then again, the keys
don't even enter the equation if, for instance, your situation is
similar to ours (our small office also has ten people/PCs). In our
situtation, most of our PCs are Dells. Most have XP Pro. That means we
can use *any* Dell Reinstallation CD -- as long as it's for XP Pro. So,
even if one particular PC came with XP Pro, SP1 pre-installed, we can
use another Dell CD -- one with SP2, as long as it's for XP Pro.

And because of Dell's unique System-locked Preinstallation setup, there
is no need to ever enter a Product Key. Theoretically, if I were to use
a generic (non-Dell, like a System Builder's) OEM XP installation CD,
then I would need to use the Product Key from the COA sticker.

Programs like Belarc Advisor are useful in determining licenses and
keys. However, keep in mind that this will only come in handy if you
have Retail or Generic OEM installation CDs. If that is the case, by all
means, run the program and write/print the keys on stickers that you can
affix to the PCs.

So in order to get a more useful answer, please tell us about the PCs.
And describe the disks in detail. Some disks are Recovery/Restore disks.
Some are Upgrade CDs. And some PCs don't even come with CDs; instead
they have a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive. So, more info,
please!


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Product Identification
    ... Are these Dells or some other big-name OEM PCs? ... Keep in mind that these disks are often interchageable anyway. ... there is nothing unique about them -- there is no product key hard-coded in the CDs themselves. ... Your keys should already be on COA stickers affixed to your PCs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Product Identification
    ... Are any of the disks Upgrade CDs? ... Keep in mind that these disks are often interchageable anyway. ... Authenticity) stickers affixed to your PCs. ... That means we can use *any* Dell ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Matching disk to machine
    ... There are restore disks as well ... as MS XP disks in this pile.Can Belarc Advisor be of any use? ... If they still have the "Factory Installed" version of XP on the PCs, ... you'll get with Belarc is Dell's VLK and won't work with the XP CDs. ...
    (alt.os.windows-xp)
  • Re: word corrupting files?
    ... For years I have sneakernetted files on CDs and ZIP disks between work ... > worried that even if i network the two computers ... this computer will still corrupt it... ...
    (microsoft.public.word.conversions)
  • Texas suing Sony now, too
    ... SO now it's California, New York, Texas. ... Sony said on its Web site that it had recalled all CDs that were ... their computers with the hidden files. ... designed to exploit the Sony BMG software and wreak havoc on computers. ...
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