License SP2 RC 1

[Sadie]

Hello,

purely because I get so much pleasure out of learning how
to do things on my P.C.,I slipstreamed XP SP2 Beta into
XP.Reformatted,and paid due attention to the fact that
the software is subject to a 180 day license agreement.

My XP is all legal and above board.I absolutely do not
want to compromise my original product key just because
I'm experimenting with a Beta release.

Can you please tell me what happens at the end of the 180
days?Will I be forced to purchase a new product key?Or
pay to renew the license.Fogive my ignorance,but I don't
know much about this type of thing.

I also would hate to break the law through sheer mis-
comprehension.

Thanks.

Sadie

 

[KG1]

No, you won't have to pay for anything. You will want to recreate your
slipstream CD with the final SP2 since it will be out soon. You'll have to
reformat and reinstall at that time because you have to uninstall the beta
before you install subsequent betas or the final.

KG1

 

[Sadie]

Thanks,KG1.

I did expect that the final Beta would be released before
the 180 days were up,and then I'll re-do the slipstream.
Just wanted to spare myself the unexpected horror of
getting half-way through the final install and finding
the whole thing locks up on me!

That's great news.Cheers.

BTW,for anyone going down the slipstreaming route.It pays
to uninstall A.V protection during the disc-creation.I
found the A.V. program had comandeered the boot process.
Consequently,the first bootable discs failed (Took me a
while to work out what had gone wrong).Every time I tried
to boot from them to reformat/install,I got a message
saying ntldr could not be found.

Uninstalled the A.V.,completely redid the whole
slipstreaming process.Worked perfectly after that.(Goes
without saying,I'm firewalled to the gills,and was not
online during the procedure!)

Just thought I'd pass that on,may help someone.

Sadie

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Shouldn't you have asked this _before_ proceeding with your
experiment? ;-}

Not to worry, though. Your original Product Key has not been
"compromised," and remains valid. There'll be no need to purchase
another license.

When the license for the SP2-RC1 license expires, you'll need to
uninstall it. Also, if you want to install the final version of SP2
before that time, you'll first have to uninstall SP2-RC1. As you've
created an installation based upon a slipstreamed CD, your most likely
means of "uninstalling" the SP2-RC1 will entail formatting the hard
drive and performing a clean installation from the original WinXP
installation CD. You _might_ be able to perform a repair installation
to return the OS to its pre-SP state, but I wouldn't count on it.


Bruce Chambers

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Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Tom]

I have a little bit different question. If i reinstall my xp home. Do i need
to install SP1 and then SP2, or it is enough to install SP2 and no need for
SP1?

You install "only" SP1, if it isn't already part of the installation disk, then get the latest security updates from Windows Upates for your system. There is no SP2 available, other than the beta version, so don't install it, wait until the final release comes around sometime this summer (I think that is when).

 

[Steve N.]

SPs are cumulative so no, you don't need to install the previous SP.

It's also recommend to post a NEW question in a NEW thread, not as a
reply to an existing one.

Steve

 

[NobodyMan]

Greetings --

Shouldn't you have asked this _before_ proceeding with your
experiment? ;-}

Not to worry, though. Your original Product Key has not been
"compromised," and remains valid. There'll be no need to purchase
another license.

When the license for the SP2-RC1 license expires, you'll need to
uninstall it. Also, if you want to install the final version of SP2
before that time, you'll first have to uninstall SP2-RC1. As you've
created an installation based upon a slipstreamed CD, your most likely
means of "uninstalling" the SP2-RC1 will entail formatting the hard
drive and performing a clean installation from the original WinXP
installation CD. You _might_ be able to perform a repair installation
to return the OS to its pre-SP state, but I wouldn't count on it.


Bruce Chambers

This is my fear right now: all the newer folks out there download
this SP2 slipstreamed XP install CDs being posted. They are all over
the Warez groups. Most don't realize that SP2 is still Beta, and the
pirates aren't making this clear.

Once they are forced to uninstall the OS (after the trial of SP2 Beta
expires), they are going to be coming out in droves to lament the
erroneous ways of Microsoft.

Remember, you heard it here first.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

You're probably right, but I've no sympathy for anyone that
pirates software, in the first place. People that get their OS from a
"warez" site deserve every bit of trouble they get.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH