Xp serial

KoolDrew

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
10,226
7
81
A friend of mine has a sis that wants to format her PC. Hers is a prebult machine and he has a old Compaq OEM version of XP. Can he simply use that XP disc and use the product key on the side of his sisters PC to reformat her PC.
 

pcman83

Senior member
Oct 20, 2003
397
0
0
usually yes.. I would reccomend ghosting the drive off to another hard drive just in case it does not take the key.
 

PC Freak

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2000
1,195
0
0
Just to be sure download a program called Magic Jellybean. It will give you any pc's Product Key for Win and Office
 

toant103

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
10,514
1
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Originally posted by: PC_Freak
Just to be sure download a program called Magic Jellybean. It will give you any pc's Product Key for Win and Office

is this a real program?
 
Aug 23, 2000
15,509
1
81
Is the CD a windows CD or is it a Compaq labeled CD? If it is a compaq restore cd then it probably will not work. Most restore CD's use the BIOS revision as a way of authenticating if it can install on that PC.
 

Sam334

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2004
1,150
0
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There's a program called, I believe, "RockXP2" that takes the activation file (wpa, I think) so you can copy it to a floppy and use it to reinstall. Theoretically, it makes sense, but I'm not sure what will happen if your hardware is different. The app also tells you the key and whatnot.