Change Invalid XP to Older XP Valid System

[Guest]

I had my system rebuilt by a company that is no longer in business. I now
find that the XP Pro that is loaded is not genuine according to Microsoft.

I do have a genuine XP Pro CD but it is SP1 and if I try to overwrite the XP
Pro SP2 that is loaded on my system then a failure occurs.

Is there any way that I can reload my genuine Windows XP Pro and then run my
genuine SP2 CD without having to completely clear my computer?

 

[Daniel Crichton]

Paul wrote on Wed, 14 Dec 2005 04:25:03 -0800:

I had my system rebuilt by a company that is no longer in business. I now
find that the XP Pro that is loaded is not genuine according to Microsoft.

I do have a genuine XP Pro CD but it is SP1 and if I try to overwrite the
XP Pro SP2 that is loaded on my system then a failure occurs.

Is there any way that I can reload my genuine Windows XP Pro and then run
my genuine SP2 CD without having to completely clear my computer?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;328874

You should be able to use the process in that article to enter your genuine
product ID.

Dan

 

[Malke]

I had my system rebuilt by a company that is no longer in business. I
now find that the XP Pro that is loaded is not genuine according to
Microsoft.

I do have a genuine XP Pro CD but it is SP1 and if I try to overwrite
the XP Pro SP2 that is loaded on my system then a failure occurs.

Is there any way that I can reload my genuine Windows XP Pro and then
run my genuine SP2 CD without having to completely clear my computer?

Just create a slipstreamed XP installation disk which will include SP2.
Then you can do a Repair Install.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to slipstream sp2 into XP
http://www.msfn.org/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=49
http://www.windows-help.net/windowsxp/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm

Malke

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I had my system rebuilt by a company that is no longer in business. I now
find that the XP Pro that is loaded is not genuine according to Microsoft.

How, precisely, did you establish that your WinXP Pro license is not
genuine? If the OS failed validation at Microsoft's "Windows Genuine
Advantage" site, it may well still be perfectly legitimate. The
automated process used at that web site is deeply flawed. I've one
WinXP Home machine that passes validation when it's performed manually,
but consistently fails the validation check during software update/patch
installations. And my WinXPx64 system isn't even recognized as a
Microsoft operating system by the WGA validation process. Both licenses
are legitimate. To gather more information on the validity of your
license, start here, selecting the second option:

How to Tell
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ww/windows/default.mspx

I do have a genuine XP Pro CD but it is SP1 and if I try to overwrite the XP
Pro SP2 that is loaded on my system then a failure occurs.

This error message arises because your current WinXP Pro
installation is at a higher Service Pack level than is the WinXP Pro
installation CD you're trying to use. You must either uninstall the
service pack(s) from the WinXP Home installation (not an option if it
came pre-installed), or use a WinXP Pro installation CD with the same
(or higher) service pack incorporated. It's quite easy to create an
installation CD with the latest service pack (SP2) slipstreamed into the
installation files:

How to integrate software updates into your Windows installation source
files
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;828930

SlipStreaming WinXP
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm

Is there any way that I can reload my genuine Windows XP Pro and then run my
genuine SP2 CD without having to completely clear my computer?

If it really turns out to be necessary, You use a _legitimate_ retail
or OEM full license of WinXP Pro SP2 to perform a repair (a.k.a.
in-place upgrade) installation, using the new CDs and Product Keys.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341


--

Bruce Chambers

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