Jason Huang said:
Hi,
My colleague has a PC which running on Windows XP Professional SP2.
But she got that XP from internet downloading.
Now she's bought an XP with legal license, how do we change the seiral
number without reinstalling?
Thanks for help.
You can only change the Product Key if the new copy of Windows XP is
the same edition (e.g. Home, Pro, Tablet PC or Media Center), version
(Retail Upgrade, Retail Full Install, OEM, Volume License, etc), and
Language as what is installed. If all 3 are the same (and this is
doubtful because most of the internet downloads are pirated copies of
volume licenses and it is extremely unlikely that your colleague would
have purchased that) then you can use Magic Jelly Bean from
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml to change the product
key.
Otherwise a reinstall will likely be necessary.
There are some things you could try:
1. Before doing anything run the Files and Settings transfer wizard
on the machine and accumulate the data in a folder named \transfer on
the hard drive (e.g. c:\transfer). Then burn a copy of this to a CD
or DVD, and/or copy it to another hard drive partition or to a network
drive.
2. Try doing a Repair Install with the new version of XP as per the
instructions at
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
3. If that fails because it is not the correct version of Windows XP
then try changing the product key to the new one with Magic Jelly Bean
and then doing the Repair Install.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
