Re: XP Licenses and CD Images
- From: "Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:23:50 -0400
YW.
Mike Lang wrote:
Hi David,
Thanks for the reply.
Restoredisks.com seems almost perfect - I don't mind paying for disks
for specific machines. I have about 4 Compaq/HP machines that I need
them for.
Yeah sorry - I suppose I should call them Product Keys!
Cheers
Mike
The only one problem I can see is that I do have 1 or 2 IBM's which
are not listed byu
"Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:u2zoZgcvJHA.5836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mike Lang wrote:
Hi all,
Over the last 5 years I've accumulated a number of defunct XP PCs -
mainly notebooks. I have at least 10 or 12 VALID Xp licenses in a
mix of Home and Pro from various sources. Although I have a Windows
XP Pro and Windows XP Home CD, these are quite old and do not seem
to match the licenses I have.
I've tried on a number of occasions to use these license keys in
clean Windows XP installs (to stay legal) but always end up with
the install telling me that the license is not valid for that
version. My question is:
Is there any way of telling which version a license number is for?
Do you mean Product Key? Not unless it's a Volume License Key. It
doesn't sound like that's your situation!
Is there anyway of getting a valid CD image for the identified
version
Yes, but it's generally frowned upon. And frankly, if you have to
ask, you're probably not sophisitcated enough to avoid other CD
images that are very similar but not valid and often riddled with
malware.
or is there a way of forcing XP to accept the keys.
It's possible to create your own installation CD, conceivably
turning a Retail CD into an OEM one, but you will still need a valid
key!
I don't
mind going through the Microsoft phone based authentication
procedure AFTER I've installed the XP version.
That probably won't even happen in your case. As long as you have a
vaild Product Key, automatic activation over the Net should occur.
Please bear in mind the fact that I wish to stay legal on this.
Your choices are:
1. If the PC came with a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive,
simply use it!
2. Contact the PC manufacturers. They might ship you the proper
installation media for a modest fee.
3. If #2 doesn't work, this site might help:
http://www.restoredisks.com/
4. Obtain generic OEM install CDs -- one for Home and the other for
Pro. Then simply use the Product ID on the COA sticker on the PC.
Perhaps you can borrow these disks from friends, neighbors,
relatives, or colleagues. If not, they are still available for sale.
Newegg.com is one online retailer you can use. Although it's
possible to find images for these CDs online (albeit not authorized
by Microsoft), I'd caution against it for the reason mentioned above
-- it's just too easy to get images riddled with malware. If you
insist on doing that anyway, it's imperative you spend a lot of time
researching, paying special attention to things like MD5 hash
values, but again, it's not recommended! There are some here who
will say it's not legal. I'm more on the pragmatic side that it's
not SAFE. If these PCs have licenses to run XP and you have the
associated Product Keys (found on the COA stickers), that meets the
ethical test as far as I'm concerned. But borrowing an actual
installation CD from someone you know is much safer than downloading
an image of it! And since there are no legit avenues of download
(even if the final *outcome* is above board), you will see few
people recommending it. HTH.
.
- References:
- XP Licenses and CD Images
- From: Mike Lang
- Re: XP Licenses and CD Images
- From: Daave
- Re: XP Licenses and CD Images
- From: Mike Lang
- XP Licenses and CD Images
- Prev by Date: Re: upgrading system
- Next by Date: Is It Really A Virus?
- Previous by thread: Re: XP Licenses and CD Images
- Next by thread: Re: XP Licenses and CD Images
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
