G
Gary S. Terhune
We aren't having a debate until you read the entire thread again and get
clear on what the OP has and how he got it.
1. The ONLY way he can create an install disk is using the i386 folder on
the machine. No chance of getting the CD that was used to install the
system, or any other CD except to go out and buy one, which would make this
discussion moot.
2. The PK that belongs to the installed system, as reflected in the
Registry, does not work with the CD created from the i386 folder.
3. The PK that is on the outside of the system does not work with the CD
created from the i386 folder. Nor does it match the installed system.
Conclusions.
1. The original factory installation was wiped at some point and a different
CD was used to reinstall it.
2. The i386 folder that is on the system did not come from the original CD,
nor did it come from the CD that was used to reinstall it. Someone copied
that folder from yet another CD, just to have it available so the CD wasn't
needed for whatever one needs an i386 folder.
3. That system is in no way legitimately licensed to Tom Crooze. He has no
way of knowing where the system that is actually installed came from, and no
way of knowing if it has been used with another system. It is not the OEM
installation that came pre-installed from the factory. That makes it
illegitimate right there. If nothing else, the transfer of ownership was
incomplete because it did not include the CD and accompanying literature.
Read the EULA in re transfer of ownership.
4. The CD created from the i386 folder is even less legit, since there is no
PK to go with it.
5. The only way to reinstall that system is to go online and search for OEM
PKs and try them with the CD he created from the i386 folder. Even if he
manages to Activate such an installation and pass WGA, it STILL won't be a
legitimately licensed installation, and those actions may very well screw up
the company whence it came if they try to use the real CD that provided that
i386 folder. Not that' I'd care much about that. They obviously played fast
and loose with their CDs and installations.
I think that about covers it.
clear on what the OP has and how he got it.
1. The ONLY way he can create an install disk is using the i386 folder on
the machine. No chance of getting the CD that was used to install the
system, or any other CD except to go out and buy one, which would make this
discussion moot.
2. The PK that belongs to the installed system, as reflected in the
Registry, does not work with the CD created from the i386 folder.
3. The PK that is on the outside of the system does not work with the CD
created from the i386 folder. Nor does it match the installed system.
Conclusions.
1. The original factory installation was wiped at some point and a different
CD was used to reinstall it.
2. The i386 folder that is on the system did not come from the original CD,
nor did it come from the CD that was used to reinstall it. Someone copied
that folder from yet another CD, just to have it available so the CD wasn't
needed for whatever one needs an i386 folder.
3. That system is in no way legitimately licensed to Tom Crooze. He has no
way of knowing where the system that is actually installed came from, and no
way of knowing if it has been used with another system. It is not the OEM
installation that came pre-installed from the factory. That makes it
illegitimate right there. If nothing else, the transfer of ownership was
incomplete because it did not include the CD and accompanying literature.
Read the EULA in re transfer of ownership.
4. The CD created from the i386 folder is even less legit, since there is no
PK to go with it.
5. The only way to reinstall that system is to go online and search for OEM
PKs and try them with the CD he created from the i386 folder. Even if he
manages to Activate such an installation and pass WGA, it STILL won't be a
legitimately licensed installation, and those actions may very well screw up
the company whence it came if they try to use the real CD that provided that
i386 folder. Not that' I'd care much about that. They obviously played fast
and loose with their CDs and installations.
I think that about covers it.