Non Genuine but I have a Dell...

[Guest]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

 

[Frankster]

Corporate editions cannot be activated using an OEM key. Sorry, your friend
was wrong.

-Frank

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You need to find your original Dell Reinstallation CD
for Windows XP, then perform a "clean install". You
can obtain a replacement by contacting Dell support.

Welcome to Dell Support!
http://support.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

The alternative is to purchase a "Full Version" of Windows XP
Professional and then change the Product Key:

The Genuine Advantage Product Key Update Tool is only valid for
users attempting to change their current non-genuine Product Key
to a genuine COA sticker or genuine Product Key - all without a reinstall! http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=50346&clcid=0x409

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­----------------

:

| A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
| Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
| said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
| since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
| happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
| How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
| everything?

 

[Richard in AZ]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

You cannot fix it without formatting and doing a clean install with your original Dell disks.
You can only save your files by backing them up to another disk, like a CD.
After the clean install, you will have to reload your drivers, your programs and all of your setups.

Now was that really a friend that did you in.

 

[jonah]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

Your friend actually did you a favour up until now, Dells are
notorious for coming crammed with rubbish and bloatware as "value
added". I have just wiped and re-installed a HP for the same reason ie
full of HP related junk and drivers.

I used a generic copy of XP with the original installations CD Key
then went through the MS phone system to activate it, there was no
problem.

In your case you could try doing a repair install with your original
CD but I would borrow a Generic clean OEM (not Dell or HP) and try a
repair install with that. I don't know if a repair install will work
over a "Corporate Edition" should do though.

If not you will have to reformat.

Jonah

 

[Vanguard]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had
my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it.
...

Your, ahem, "friend" installed their copy of Windows and you really
think that was a legal COPY? Your friend didn't give you the install
CD, did he? Your friend didn't give you a CD with a Microsoft-branded
hologram logo on it, did he? The "Corporate Edition" is a pirated copy
so your "friend" is distributing an illegal copy (the "corporate
edition" is slicing one license out of a volume license, but volume
licenses are to be used within the same organization that purchased the
volume license). Your "friend" reamed you royal.

Since you say that you still have the Dell install CD, explain why you
haven't yet bothered to actually use it.

 

[NoStop]

Your, ahem, "friend" installed their copy of Windows and you really
think that was a legal COPY? Your friend didn't give you the install
CD, did he? Your friend didn't give you a CD with a Microsoft-branded
hologram logo on it, did he? The "Corporate Edition" is a pirated copy
so your "friend" is distributing an illegal copy (the "corporate
edition" is slicing one license out of a volume license, but volume
licenses are to be used within the same organization that purchased the
volume license). Your "friend" reamed you royal.

Since you say that you still have the Dell install CD, explain why you
haven't yet bothered to actually use it.

Why does he need to explain anything to you? Who are you?


--
Microsoft has been unable to cope with Open Source except to complain about
it.

http://tinyurl.com/mpoy2

View Some Common Linux Desktops ...
http://linclips.crocusplains.com/index.php

 

[Richard in AZ]

Your friend actually did you a favour up until now, Dells are
notorious for coming crammed with rubbish and bloatware as "value
added". I have just wiped and re-installed a HP for the same reason ie
full of HP related junk and drivers.

I used a generic copy of XP with the original installations CD Key
then went through the MS phone system to activate it, there was no
problem.

In your case you could try doing a repair install with your original
CD but I would borrow a Generic clean OEM (not Dell or HP) and try a
repair install with that. I don't know if a repair install will work
over a "Corporate Edition" should do though.

If not you will have to reformat.

Jonah

It is not the Dell OS disk that puts the "rubbish and bloatware" on the computer. They add that
junk at the request of 3rd party vendors who pay for them to do that. When your reformat and clean
install with the Dell OS disk, you get a clean system. Then just don't install that 3rd party
software.

And Vanguard. The reason the OP does not want to use the Dell disk is because he has not figured
out how to backup what he has on the computer, or just not thrilled with the chore of updating and
reinstalling all of his programs.

 

[Jonah]

It is not the Dell OS disk that puts the "rubbish and bloatware" on the computer. They add that
junk at the request of 3rd party vendors who pay for them to do that. When your reformat and clean
install with the Dell OS disk, you get a clean system. Then just don't install that 3rd party
software.

They get paid do they? oh well then its OK to use 48Mb Mouse Drivers
for a HP USB mouse and 38MB Network Drivers.

A lot of these crapware filled PCs are bought by neophites who bought
the box in PC Megaworld for 20p and a box of carrots. If they knew
enough to insist on a clean install or at least a clean XP CD they
would not be there in the first place.

A lot of people do buy a cheap PC deliberately for the specification
and price then re-image the drive and chuck the rescue disk in a bin,
I have just done this very thing for a relative who though PC World
was just fantastic.

The fact is that generally the user only has a "rescue CD" which
re-installs the original OS complete with crap.

Jonah

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my
Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

There is no such thing as a "Corporate Edition" of Windows XP. The term
"Corporate Edition" is usually linked to a bogus or invalid Volume License
Key (VLK). You friend installed a pirated version of Windows on your Dell.

Your friend is a thief, and he made you an accessory after the fact.

You need to find new friends.

You also need to install from the Dell CD.

Bobby

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Now my computer is telling my copy of Windows is not valid.

It isn't. You're screwed.

Did you even get a kiss?

 

[kurttrail]

You cannot fix it without formatting and doing a clean install with
your original Dell disks. You can only save your files by backing them
up to another disk, like
a CD. After the clean install, you will have to reload your drivers,
your
programs and all of your setups.
Now was that really a friend that did you in.

If the Dell Disk was a reinstall disk, then a repair install should
work.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Bruce Chambers]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it.

There is no such thing as WinXP "Corporate Edition." That is a term
applied exclusively to pirated (iow, stolen) copies of the Volume
Licensed WinXP Pro by the "warez" aficionados.

He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key.

He lied.

Nor could your OEM Product Key possibly have worked with a VL CD.
Product Keys are bound to the specific type and language of CD and/or
license (OEM, Volume, retail, full, or Upgrade) with which they are
purchased. For example, a WinXP Home OEM Product Key won't work for any
retail version of WinXP Home, or for any version of WinXP Pro, and vice
versa. An upgrade's Product Key cannot be used with a full version CD,
and vice versa. An OEM Product Key will not work to install a retail
product. An Italian Product Key will not work with an English CD. Bottom
line: Product Keys and CD types cannot be mixed & matched.

So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used.

You may have thought so, but apparently it wasn't.

I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

If the Dell CD that you have is a full installation CD, and not a
Recovery CD, than you may be able to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place
upgrade) installation, changing to your legitimate Product Key.
However, if all you have is a Recovery CD that's designed to wipe the
hard drive before installing the OS, there's nothing you can do but bite
the bullet, back up your data, and format the hard drive.

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


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

 

[Leythos]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

Most of the Universities and schools offer an EDU version of MS
Products, like the Windows XP Prof w/SP2, MS Office 2003 Prof, and
Publisher for $180. Purchase the bundle from your school and then do a
repair/reinstall using the EDU CD and you'll be fine.

 

[Curt Christianson]

Grumpy,

Do you *ever* have anything worthwhile to say, besides smart*ss comments?
I'm still waiting for something helpful from you--but, I'm afraid I'm in for
quite a wait.

--
Curt BD-MVBT

http://dundats.mvps.org/
http://dundats.proboards27.com/index.cgi
http://www.aumha.org/

 

[Plato]

happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.

Correct. Your buddy put on a pirate edition.

 

[Michael Stevens]

A friend reformatted my computer last school yearr at college. I had my
Dell
Operating system CD.. but he put some XP pro Corperate Edition on it. He
said it was the exact same thing if he used my CD key. So I let him do it
since my CD key was being used. I don't guess all of this is quite what
happened. Now my computer is telling my my copy of Windows is not valid.
How can I get it Genuine since I have my CD without formatting and losing
everything?

I need to change my XP Product KEY #18 on the FAQ list
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#018
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
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