Reinstalling OEM XP 2

[Nelviticus]

I have a Samsung NC10 netbook which came with Windows XP Home. I'd installed Windows 7 on it (full licence, not upgrade) but in the process I accidentally destroyed the recovery partitiion. Now I want to sell it so have reinstalled Windows XP (using an XP ISO burned to a USB drive), but the key on the COA sticker won't re-activate it. I tried calling Microsoft's support line but the automated message said that my product key couldn't be activated.

There was no point in the whole call at which I could talk to a human being so I don't know what to do next. The key is definitely valid as the machine was purchased brand-new from a reputable supplier and it hasn't been used to activate an upgrade.

Any ideas?

Nelviticus

 

[melmitts]

I purchased a Dell notebook a couple of years ago. Three months later, the hard drive crashed. I called Dell and they sent out a technician to replace the hard drive. It was replaced and the 'authorized' technician left. I found out a few months later that it didn't contain a recovery partition when I started getting a popup telling me my version of Windows 7 wasn't registered/genuine. I tried using key but the program rejected it. It took a lot of work and energy but I finally talked to a human at Microsoft. Microsoft's position -- Get Dell to fix the problem or buy a new copy of Windows 7, no other options. And of course, Dell was happy to give me a very resounding "SCREW YOU!". I ended up installing Linux Mint on the laptop. Good Luck

Mel

 

[Rick998]

Did you re-install XP using the Samsung NC10 media (1 x OS CD and 1 x Media Bundle DVD) created from the original XP Home install before you wiped it with the Win 7 install? From my own copies of the original media, they are labelled SEC_RCD.ISO (CD) and SOFTWAREMEDIA.ISO (DVD). At a guess, I would have thought that the OEM media created from the original XP Home install would create a new pre-activated install.

 

[Nelviticus]

No, I never created install discs as I had the recovery partition (also I had no USB CD/DVD burner). I kept the recovery partition when I installed Windows 7 but at some point (I think when I was trying out Windows 8) I accidentally trashed it.

When I installed XP this time I did so from an image downloaded from MSDN. But as far as I'm aware that should still work with the appropriate OEM key, there's no OEM version of XP Home per se.

Nelviticus

 

[goombawaho]

there's no OEM version of XP Home per se.

Yes there is and you need that CD. Home/Pro AND OEM/RETAIL are not interchangeable in any way when it comes to CD/Key Codes being happy. It might not be where you can download it on MSDN, but that's what you need. It's labeled WXHOEM_EN (not a misspelling).

Link

Each piece of Windows XP CD disc media or ISO image has been created for specific channel of distributions, namely retail, OEM or volume licensing. Each channel has specific installation CD and product key or CD key that required to register and activate the installed system. Activation with product serial keys from other channel version are simply not accepted, causing end-user to encounter problem when installation as a CD-key is not accepted even though it’s genuine, valid and correct.

And just to be thorough:
Here's a list of all the various types of disc along with the volume name, date and PID numbers:
Windows XP Home Retail = WXHFPP_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277000
Windows XP Home Retail w/ SP1 = XRMHFPP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277000
Windows XP Home Retail w/ SP1a = X1AHFPP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277000
Windows XP Home Retail w/ SP2 = VRMHFPP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277000
Windows XP Home Upgrade = WXHCCP_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55285000
Windows XP Home Upgrade W/SP1 = XRMHCCP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55285000
Windows XP Home Upgrade W/SP1a = X1AHCCP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55285000
Windows XP Home Upgrade W/SP2 = VRMHCCP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55285000
Windows XP Home OEM = WXHOEM_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277OEM
Windows XP Home OEM w/ SP1 = XRMHOEM_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277OEM
Windows XP Home OEM w/ SP1a = X1AHOEM_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277OEM
Windows XP Home OEM w/ SP2 = VRMHOEM_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55277OEM
Windows XP Home Volume = WXHVOL_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Home Volume W/ SP1 = XRMHVOL_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Home Volume W/ SP1a = X1AHVOL_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Home Volume W/ SP2 = VRMHVOL_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270

Windows XP Pro Retail = WXPFPP_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Retail w/ SP1 = XRMPFPP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Retail w/ SP1a = X1APFPP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Retail w/ SP2 = VRMPFPP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Upgrade = WXPCCP_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55276000
Windows XP Pro Upgrade w/ SP1 = XRMPCCP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55276000
Windows XP Pro Upgrade w/ SP1a = X1APCCP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55276000
Windows XP Pro Upgrade w/ SP2 = VRMPCCP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55276000
Windows XP Pro OEM = WXPOEM_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274OEM
Windows XP Pro OEM w/ SP1 = XRMPOEM_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274OEM
Windows XP Pro OEM w/ SP1a = X1APOEM_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274OEM
Windows XP Pro OEM w/ SP2 = VRMPOEM_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274OEM
Windows XP Pro Volume = WXPVOL_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Pro Volume w/ SP1 = XRMPVOL_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Pro Volume w/ SP1a = X1APVOL_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Pro Volume w/ SP2 = VRMPVOL_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274270
Windows XP Pro Tablet PC w/SP1 Disc1 = XRMPFPP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Tablet PC w/SP1a Disc1 = X1APFPP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Tablet PC w/SP2 Disc1 = VRMPFPP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro MSDN = WXPFPP_EN 08/23/01 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro MSDN w/ SP1 = XRMPFPP_EN 08/29/02 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro MSDN w/ SP1a = X1APFPP_EN 03/31/03 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro MSDN w/ SP2 = VRMPFPP_EN 08/04/04 8:00 AM (08:00:00) 55274000
Windows XP Pro Evaluation = WXPEVL_EN

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Nelviticus]

Wow, thanks goombawaho. Looks like I can't get the OEM CD image with my MSDN subscription but you can edit the ISO to have the correct PID then re-burn it, which should work.

Ta!

Nelviticus