Reinstalling XP-pro

[gshaheen]

We have about 10 PCs in our office running XP pro. One of the PCs needs to have the drive replaced. I dont have any record of which licensing activation code goes with each PC.
When I go to reinstall the XP Pro on the new drive, how can I make sure I use the same registration code that the PC originally used? If I accidently use a registation code that one of the other PCs are using, won't it look like I am using the software on 2 PCs?

Thanks in advance- I am a PBX vendor , not a PC vendor!

 

[jdunderhill]

Hi

You could use a product such as Aida32 or Belarc advisor to interrogate the system to find out what XP License code you used, you could run this on the 9 PC's and find which is the unused code, this is a bit time consuming but would do the trick

Sometimes the PC's may have the XP License sticker on the case somewhere, may not be in your case but just an idea

Regards

Jamie

 

[gbl]

I have the same problem but the opposite circumstances. I have a CD for installation and can use a key finder code to determine the key on the computer but I do not know how t o tell if the CD is for that computer - ie., whether or not the CD I have was used to install xp on the computer I need to do the reinstall for. How can I read the CD (rather than the computer) to determine its key?

 

[solderjockey]

gbl: the cd's are all the same. ie, one xp pro cd is no different than another, the key is just specific to the system. There is no key stored on the cd itself. At least as far as I've ever been able to tell anyway. You should be able to use the same CD on many different systems as long as you have a valid key for each one. And the XP version is the same, of course.

 

[linney]

Is there a sticky label on the back of the Tower with the Product Key number?

 

[Frank4d]

If the PC will run XP before replacing the HDD you can install and run Magical Jellybean Keyfinder

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

and it will tell you the key that is installed.

As for which CD to use to install the software, it doesn't matter as long as you use a XP Home Upgrade CD to reinstall XP Home Upgrade, or a XP Pro OEM CD to reinstall XP Pro OEM. The key is not part of the CD, but a XP Pro IEM key will not work with a XP Home CD. Point is the CD should exactly match the version that was previously installed.

 

[gbl]

Thanks for the help on this one. I have to do this with a Dell notebook and am not sure Dell has or has not done something extra with the disk. For some reason I have two dell notebooks but only one xp cd. I guess if this disk does not take I either call Dell or get another windows xp cd.

 

[gbl]

Just an after though on this one, the computer in question has the key sticker on it but when I ran the jellybean key finder and another keyfinder program they both produced a key different from that on the sticker. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I am reinstalling from the CD I have, and hope one of these keys will work!

 

[linney]

XP OEM product key weirdness

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/archive/t-19628/XP-OEM-product-key-weirdness