Installing XP SP2 with an XP product key

[Damon Line]

Hi, all. I'm planning to do a fresh install of Windows XP on an older computer of mine. I have two XP installation disks, the one that was originally used to install on this older computer, and another one that I used to install XP on another computer last year. The XP installation disk for the older computer pre-dates the SP1 and SP2 updates, while the newer XP installation disk includes SP2. Here's my question: Can I use the newer XP installation disk to install XP on my older computer, but use the product key from my older XP installation disk? I'm hoping I can do this to avoid a lot of updating or slipstreaming. Thanks.

Damon

 

[MustISO]

As long as the XP version the key is for is the same as the version of the disk you're fine. By version I mean, OEM vs. Retail vs. Corp, etc.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm surprised that you don't just slipstream the old XP version, but you may have your own reasons. I've created slipstream discs for two or three of our XP Pro install kits here in the home. It's a fairly straightforward process, and once you have the slipstream disc, you're done with it.

 

[Damon Line]

Originally posted by: MustISO
As long as the XP version the key is for is the same as the version of the disk you're fine. By version I mean, OEM vs. Retail vs. Corp, etc.

Thanks, MustISO. The old installation disk is a corporate license, the new installation disk is an educational license. Will this prevent me from doing the install with the new disk and activating it with the product key from the old disk?

Damon

 

[Damon Line]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
I'm surprised that you don't just slipstream the old XP version, but you may have your own reasons. I've created slipstream discs for two or three of our XP Pro install kits here in the home. It's a fairly straightforward process, and once you have the slipstream disc, you're done with it.

Thanks, BonzaiDuck. I have never created a slipstream disk before, so to do so would take some research on my part, plus the time involved in actually creating the disk. What are the benefits of doing that versus using an XP SP2 installation disk that I already have (assuming, of course, that I can use it with the product key from a previous install on the same machine)?

Damon

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: Damon Line

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
I'm surprised that you don't just slipstream the old XP version, but you may have your own reasons. I've created slipstream discs for two or three of our XP Pro install kits here in the home. It's a fairly straightforward process, and once you have the slipstream disc, you're done with it.

Thanks, BonzaiDuck. I have never created a slipstream disk before, so to do so would take some research on my part, plus the time involved in actually creating the disk. What are the benefits of doing that versus using an XP SP2 installation disk that I already have (assuming, of course, that I can use it with the product key from a previous install on the same machine)?

Damon

Slipstreaming makes the install process faster, since you drop the separate step of installing SP2 from a separate disc. But that's all.

The SP2 disc should work for any version of Windows XP.

 

[Damon Line]

Originally posted by: Aluvus
Slipstreaming makes the install process faster, since you drop the separate step of installing SP2 from a separate disc. But that's all.

Thanks, Aluvus. So if I have an XP installation disk that already has SP2 on it, is there any benefit to creating a slipstream disk? If not, then the only question is whether I can install XP using an installation disk that has SP2 on it and has an educational license, but activate it using the product key from an older XP installation disk that does not have SP2 on it and has a corporate license. If I can't, I should consider slipstreaming or nLite, correct?

Damon

 

[DrGreen2007]

the CDKey you use has to match the CD you use

You cant use one type of CD, then try to use another different type of CDkey

OEM-OEM
Edu-Edu
Retail-Retail
Upgrade-Upgrade