Where is the OS Key stored during reinstall?

[Mayfriday0529]

I got a New Dell Machine at work. We actually got several new ones in. First thing we have to do is resize the drive and install Vista for testing purposes; do a dual boot setup.

I startup my machine an I got Windows Corrupted Disk errors within 10 minutes. I had to format the drive completely. I reinstalled using the included XP Home CD and never got asked for a CD Key.

Where was the key stored? The CD or somewhere on the BIOS? I checked the other machines, they all have the same key that manufactures use for installing.

I was just wondering.

 

[MrChad]

It's in the setup answer file (winnt.sif) in the I386 folder of the CD.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: MrChad
It's in the setup answer file (winnt.sif) in the I386 folder of the CD.

Oh thats cool, I wish my other Reinstall CD's that I have at home from Dell did the same thing?
You think I could use this CD on another Dell Model machine for which I do have a XP license? I reformatted that drive once to reinstall XP but I didn't know that the key on the side of the machine is not the same one that it came with.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Jnetty99

Originally posted by: MrChad
It's in the setup answer file (winnt.sif) in the I386 folder of the CD.

Oh thats cool, I wish my other Reinstall CD's that I have at home from Dell did the same thing?
You think I could use this CD on another Dell Model machine for which I do have a XP license? I reformatted that drive once to reinstall XP but I didn't know that the key on the side of the machine is not the same one that it came with.

I have a custom Dell XP Pro CD that I use to re-image some of the machines here at work (all Dell). I use the key from this page in my winnt.sif file and all installations work without a hitch.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: Jnetty99

Originally posted by: MrChad
It's in the setup answer file (winnt.sif) in the I386 folder of the CD.

Oh thats cool, I wish my other Reinstall CD's that I have at home from Dell did the same thing?
You think I could use this CD on another Dell Model machine for which I do have a XP license? I reformatted that drive once to reinstall XP but I didn't know that the key on the side of the machine is not the same one that it came with.

I have a custom Dell XP Pro CD that I use to re-image some of the machines here at work (all Dell). I use the key from this page in my winnt.sif file and all installations work without a hitch.

I wonder if they have something similar for Home. Most of our new machines here are Dells but with Home version not Pro.

 

[RebateMonger]

As far as I can tell, if you have ANY BIOS-Locked version of Dell XP, it will work, without Activation or manual Key input, on ANY recent Dell computer. And, yeah, I'm sure there are exceptions and limitations to this.

Obviously, you shouldn't take advantage of this to do installs on Dells with the "wrong" type of COA sticker.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
As far as I can tell, if you have ANY BIOS-Locked version of Dell XP, it will work, without Activation or manual Key input, on ANY recent Dell computer. And, yeah, I'm sure there are exceptions and limitations to this.

Obviously, you shouldn't take advantage of this to do installs on Dells with the "wrong" type of COA sticker.

Well hopefully i didn't violate anything. I had a Dell 4600 and the new system i got is a Dell E520.
I took the Win XP Home SP2 disk included with the Dell E520 and wiped out the Dell 4600 and reloaded the OS on that. That system is going to someone else.

I just checked the original CD that came with the Dell 4600 which was a XP Home SP1 and the winnt.sif has the same key.