OEM activation on windows XP and windows 2000 platforms

[Kones]

Hello Members,

We have DELL and HP workstations of about 300 nos which has OEM license for
windows XP and 2000 professional platforms. Most of my DELL computers are XP
installed and HP are 2000 pro installed. Due to my project requirements, i
had to reinstall OS on all machines. I just prepared a ghost image and
restored xp on dell and 2000 on HP computers. I need to activate all
computers with its native OEM key ie, the key that was shipped during
purchase.

Since i am running isolated network environment, i couldnt be able to
connect to internet. Also it is not possible to register 300 computers over
phone. I communicated with product vendor for assistance. They advised me to
contact microsoft for assistance.

1. Can someone advise me which is the best method to to activate windows in
isolated network environment without having to access to internet or by phone?
2. How can i preserve OEM license under such scenarios during installations?
i mean at times when it is required to perform bulk installation via ghost
restore or by some other means?

Please advise.

Thanks,
Best,
Kones.S

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Hello Members,

We have DELL and HP workstations of about 300 nos which has OEM
license for
windows XP and 2000 professional platforms. Most of my DELL
computers are XP
installed and HP are 2000 pro installed. Due to my project
requirements, i
had to reinstall OS on all machines. I just prepared a ghost image
and
restored xp on dell and 2000 on HP computers. I need to activate all
computers with its native OEM key ie, the key that was shipped
during
purchase.

Since i am running isolated network environment, i couldnt be able
to
connect to internet. Also it is not possible to register 300
computers over
phone. I communicated with product vendor for assistance. They
advised me to
contact microsoft for assistance.

1. Can someone advise me which is the best method to to activate
windows in
isolated network environment without having to access to internet or
by phone?
2. How can i preserve OEM license under such scenarios during
installations?
i mean at times when it is required to perform bulk installation via
ghost
restore or by some other means?

I can't help with Windows 2000, but for XP if you build your image
properly and use sysprep you can deploy the image without activation
issues. See
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx, Preserving
OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP.

The keys provided in the article are different than the ones used by
Dell, but I imagine the should work OK regardless (though I can't say
from personal experience as I've always used the ones I pull from the
Dell factory images.)

 

[Kones]

I can't help with Windows 2000, but for XP if you build your image
properly and use sysprep you can deploy the image without activation
issues. See
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx, Preserving
OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP.

The keys provided in the article are different than the ones used by
Dell, but I imagine the should work OK regardless (though I can't say
from personal experience as I've always used the ones I pull from the
Dell factory images.)

--
Zaphod

Voted "Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe" for seven
years in a row.

Zaphod,

Thanks for your reply. Normally images are being builded up on a machine
with its key and is spreaded across all the machines where ghost image
restored. Since it overwrites the entire HDD, how could we still be able to
maintain the license?

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Thanks for your reply. Normally images are being builded up on a
machine
with its key and is spreaded across all the machines where ghost
image
restored. Since it overwrites the entire HDD, how could we still be
able to
maintain the license?

Did you read the article? If you follow the steps in the article and
put the appropriate key from the article in your sysprep.inf, when the
image is restored it will use that key and will activate
automatically.

--
Zaphod

Arthur Dent, speaking to Trillian about Zaphod:
"So, two heads is what does it for a girl?"
"...Anything else he's got two of?"

 

[Jim]

Thanks for your reply. Normally images are being builded up on a machine
with its key and is spreaded across all the machines where ghost image
restored. Since it overwrites the entire HDD, how could we still be able
to
maintain the license?

Extract it before the update?

The fine manual for my Dell Dimension 4600 states that when you reach the
prompt to "Ready to register with Microsoft", you select "No, not at this
time". Perhaps that is what your setup should do.

Jim

 

[Shenan Stanley]

The fine manual for my Dell Dimension 4600 states that when you
reach the prompt to "Ready to register with Microsoft", you select
"No, not at this time". Perhaps that is what your setup should do.

Registration is optional.
Activation is not*.

Yes - they are different.

* - Volume License and pre-activated keys may act differently...

 

[Anteaus]

Windows 2000 does not require activation.

On OEM XP computers, the key on the COA sticker is in any case NOT the key
which was used to do the install. A generic OEM key is used, which will work
without activation on all computers having the same BIOS.

You basically have three possible approaches, sysprep/ghost, ghosting
without sysprep, and nLite. Which to use depends on what you want the setup
to be.

I used to use straight (no sysprep) ghosting but I'm tending to use nLite
more these days as it covers a range of computer types whereas ghosting only
works properly for one model.

As for activating this is always a time/cost issue where large numbers are
involved, and it's a classic example of the fact that product activation
negatively impacts legitimate users whilst it does not significantly affect
pirates, who just use a pinched volume-license copy or apply a crack.