Someone explain Windows XP licensing to me please!

[Gillbot]

Ok, I have two laptops I'm refurbishing and they have valid COA's on the bottom. Unfortunately I do not have the media that came with them. One had a restore partition on the HDD and the other is just old. Both have failed HDD's so I have no way of making a restore disk.

I've tried installing XP Pro (both COA's are for XP Pro) using every piece of media I have available and none of them will accept the key from the COA. It just says invalid key. What gives!?!

I know i'm supposed to match retail with retail, OEM with OEM, Home with Home and so on but i've tried nearly everything I have at my disposal and nothing is going. Do I need to match them to the service pack level as well? I mean, if I have a SP3 XP disk using an older COA, will it install?

 

[lxskllr]

You need to match SP to SP. I'm not sure that's valid for EVERY SP edition, but that's the rule I follow.

 

[Gillbot]

Is it safe to assume, if there's no SP listed on the COA then it needs a pre-SP1 disc? And where would I even find one of those anymore, lol!

 

[lxskllr]

Yea, if it doesn't specify, it should be RTM. I always saved all my oem install CDs in case I ran into that issue. You can sometimes find oem install discs from bittorrent. I got MCE that way for an HP(or maybe Gateway :^/) I was working on. Granted there's always a risk of somebody slipping something in, but they should be clean as long as they aren't advertised as being cracked.

Edit:
If you can tell me the brand, and SP level of XP you're looking for, I can see if I have it in my box... If I can find my box :^D

 

[Gillbot]

The COA just says "Windows XP Professional Sony Corporation" but every piece of media I have is SP2 or higher I think. The other one is Lenovo ""Windows XP Professional" but the COA is so worn, I haven't a clue as to what version or SP level it is.

 

[ahenkel]

I've never tried it but could you use nlite to take out service packs?

 

[lxskllr]

The COA just says "Windows XP Professional Sony Corporation" but every piece of media I have is SP2 or higher I think. The other one is Lenovo ""Windows XP Professional" but the COA is so worn, I haven't a clue as to what version or SP level it is.

I don't have either of those :^(

The Lenovo might be the biggest problem if you can't read the key. A generic oem would work, but you have to have a valid key, and then probably call MS to activate. I don't know if Lenovo works like Dell, but if you could find a Lenovo disc somewhere, you may be able to bypass activation. If so, you could install, and then image the new install for recovery purposes.

Edit:
On the one with the restore partition; is the hd completely dead? You /may/ be able to recover the data off the restore partition and reinstall that way.

Edit2:
If you're refurbing these for resale, you could install Linux. That'll drop the resale value a bit, but with the keys on the bottom, that'll offload the responsibility to someone else for installing XP, and they may be willing to deal with the hassle, and you won't lose much money.

 

[bruceb]

XP COA do not specify SP levels on them. Just match Retail or OEM media with the COA
Since you have mass market laptops, it was probably OEM versions. In a lot of these cases, with OEM media, like from Dell, the key on the bottom will not work with out calling Microsoft to activate it. This is because, if you use factory restore media from the correct company and brand of computer, it is BIOS locked and preactivated using the OEM volume license key

 

[Gillbot]

I don't have either of those :^(

The Lenovo might be the biggest problem if you can't read the key. A generic oem would work, but you have to have a valid key, and then probably call MS to activate. I don't know if Lenovo works like Dell, but if you could find a Lenovo disc somewhere, you may be able to bypass activation. If so, you could install, and then image the new install for recovery purposes.

Edit:
On the one with the restore partition; is the hd completely dead? You /may/ be able to recover the data off the restore partition and reinstall that way.

Edit2:
If you're refurbing these for resale, you could install Linux. That'll drop the resale value a bit, but with the keys on the bottom, that'll offload the responsibility to someone else for installing XP, and they may be willing to deal with the hassle, and you won't lose much money.

Not going to resell, trying to restore them so a family member can use them. I also don't mind having to call in to get them "validated", I just want them to be legit since they will be used for schoolwork and etc.

XP COA do not specify SP levels on them. Just match Retail or OEM media with the COA
Since you have mass market laptops, it was probably OEM versions. In a lot of these cases, with OEM media, like from Dell, the key on the bottom will not work with out calling Microsoft to activate it. This is because, if you use factory restore media from the correct company and brand of computer, it is BIOS locked and preactivated using the OEM volume license key

I never ran into this before so I wasn't sure. Typically I just grabbed one of my current CD's and installed without a hiccup. These won't even let me get through the install.

 

[lxskllr]

XP COA do not specify SP levels on them.

I don't think that's true. I don't have any XP machines to check, but I think I remember them specifying the SP on the key. In any case, the keys are tied to the SP level for some of the levels. I don't think that applies to all of them(I don't remember which), but some it does.

 

[RebateMonger]

Microsoft ran out of OEM XP Professional Keys in 2007. Rather, the Key validation formula built into prior versions of OEM XP Professional couldn't validate additional Keys.

OEM XP Professional, starting with Install CDs with integrated Service Pack 2c, used a different series of Keys.

These changes might be affecting your initial Key validation results. The Key changes only affected OEM XP Professional, not XP Home or XP MCE. It's my understanding that XP media with integrated SP3 didn't require an initial pre-validation Key check, so those might let you do the install so you can do the (likely phone) final Activation.

 

[Gillbot]

So what media do I need to do the install on this system. I want it to be "easy" so I can send the media with the machine. That way my niece can reinstall should she need to while she's away at school.

 

[lxskllr]

From RebateMonger's description, maybe if you slipstreamed SP3 with a generic oem copy it would work. I'm dubious, but it'll only cost you a CD to try.

 

[Gillbot]

The problem is, I don't have an OEM copy. The only copy of OEM I have is a MS branded SP3 disc. It appears as though I need an older version pre-SP1 even?

 

[stlcardinals]

You could save yourself some headache if you are willing to spend a little bit of money, both Lenovo and Sony will sell you the recovery disks for the laptops.

 

[Gillbot]

You could save yourself some headache if you are willing to spend a little bit of money, both Lenovo and Sony will sell you the recovery disks for the laptops.

I know that, but what I don't have is the TIME to wait for the discs to arrive. Plus this is also for my info to figure out what is required.

 

[bruceb]

I have a Toshiba laptop circa 2002 - 2001 ... It has XP OEM Home on it. The COA does not say anything about the service pack. But this may be pre SP1 or SP2 .. definitely pre SP3
Try installing without the License Key .. just input the Product ID code ... XP will install in trial mode. Then activate it. If it balks at online activation, call MS and do it by phone.

 

[tcsenter]

I know i'm supposed to match retail with retail, OEM with OEM, Home with Home and so on but i've tried nearly everything I have at my disposal and nothing is going. Do I need to match them to the service pack level as well? I mean, if I have a SP3 XP disk using an older COA, will it install?

There is only one instance where the media SP level matters for product keys - Windows XP Professional SP2c. As mentioned, Microsoft ran out of product keys for XP Professional using the old algorithm so they had to issue new keys, which are not compatible with media prior to SP2c.

If you have one of these newer keys, the install media must be SP2c or later. e.g. SP3 should work, but its possible that slip streamed SP3 media may not work with the newer keys unless SP3 was applied (slip streamed) over SP2c disc. The newer media is still compatible with the older keys that predate SP2c.

OEM keys need OEM media. Retail keys need retail media. If you are using the product key from an OEM COA, you need OEM install media.

Are you sure your install media is an OEM version?

 

[RebateMonger]

Try installing without the License Key .. just input the Product ID code ... XP will install in trial mode. Then activate it. If it balks at online activation, call MS and do it by phone.

I almost forgot that Microsoft issued "generic" product Keys that could be used for the initial install of XP:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457096.aspx

As noted, if you can get the installation to complete, you can then change the Key to the one on the COA and, hopefully, get a phone Activation. You still need an OEM Install CD that matches the version of XP on the COA sticker.

 

[airdata]

From my best understanding...

If it has a COA on it, you are entitled to re-load that OS from OEM media. It shouldn't ask you for a cd key during install. Alot of times the keys on the COA won't even work which makes you wonder why there is even a key code on the COA !

You can most likely grab OEM disks off ebay or craigslist although beware of craigslist... I see people on there all the time selling " Windows Vista Business..." oem dell disks for $40 when you can get them on ebay for $5 sometimes.

 

[Steltek]

From my best understanding...

If it has a COA on it, you are entitled to re-load that OS from OEM media. It shouldn't ask you for a cd key during install. Alot of times the keys on the COA won't even work which makes you wonder why there is even a key code on the COA !

You can most likely grab OEM disks off ebay or craigslist although beware of craigslist... I see people on there all the time selling " Windows Vista Business..." oem dell disks for $40 when you can get them on ebay for $5 sometimes.

For Dell machines, this is generally true -- the OEM discs are BIOS-locked and don't always require a key. However, it is not true for all manufacturers.

XP-based HP restore discs (bought directly from HP) routinely require entry of the COA key from the machine being installed. The last XP-based Sony laptop I rebuilt for someone also required entry of the key.

 

[rudder]

It's XP.. who cares. I doubt microsoft cares much about XP anymore other than they want it to be gone.

Find someone with a technet subscription.

 

[Evadman]

Find someone with a technet subscription.

I just checked my technet sub, and I don't have the option to download the OEM bits, only the retail bits. But I have the option for no service pack, or a version with service pack 3.

As for the OP from a moral standpoint, I think you are fine finding any version that will install with that key (which is basicly what you tried). From a legal standpoint, it may be different though, and I think you need the oem bits like you tried originally. You can always call microsoft (or post on their forum) and ask just to be sure and get an official answer. They may also have somewhere you can download the bits from. Or, if you get their ok to use the retail version with no SP or SP3 from a technet sub, I can download the bits from my technet sub and throw them on an FTP or something for you.

 

[Homerboy]

intersting. I was just about to do the same thing with an old Vista laptop Ihave laying around. I want to do a fresh install on it, but I dont have the media anymore. I grabbed a couple of copies of Vista Pro off "places" and figured I'd isntall with that and if my COA # doesn't activate, I'd just do phone activation.

 

[tcsenter]

Full retail (FPP) media can easily be modified to accept OEM product keys. Copy the CD to your hard drive. Locate and open SETUPP.INI (i386 directory) in Notepad. There should be a line similar to:

Pid=76477000

Doesn't matter what the number actually is (it will be different for Home, Professional, and other factors). Just change the last three digits, whatever they are, to "OEM" (without quotes). e.g. Pid=76477OEM

That's it. Save and burn back to CD. Your retail media will now accept OEM product keys (but will no longer accept retail keys).