Problem Repairing WinXP Pro - SP2

[WJB]

Hi,

I'm having a serious problem repairing a WinXP Pro SP2 installation. The
original OEM (Dell) CD was WinXP Pro, no SP. I was advised that I should not
use it to repair an SP2 installation, so I tried the WinXP Pro SP2 off my
MSDN CD. When it got to the point of requesting the Product Key (PK), I tried
the original Dell PK and got a "Product Id is invalid" error message. I tried
the MSDN one, same message. I called MSDN Tech Support and got another PK
from them, same message. Tech Support also suggested that I call Dell and get
an SP2 PK form them since the original installation was an OEM one. I called
Dell and they were nice enough to give me an WinXP Pro SP2 PK. That didn't
work either. Dell Tech Support determined that Dell's PK would perhaps not
work with an MSDN CD, so they were even nicer and sent me a Dell OEM CD with
WinXP Pro SP2. That also didn't work. I do not know what else to try. As a
last resort, I would start over with a new installation and re-install all my
software, but I'd much rather not do that.

Can anybody suggest anything? If I try to re-install Windows rather than
repair it and choose the same folder as the current installation, will my
installed programs and files be retained and still operational after the
installation is done?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DL]

If you reinstall, it will be a parallel install and your apps would have to
be reinstalled

You could try slipstreaming sp2 using your origonal OEM installation cd

 

[wjb]

Thanks, but I'm not sure what 'slipstreaming sp2" means. Can you please
elaborate more?

Thanks for your help.

wjb

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Thanks, but I'm not sure what 'slipstreaming sp2" means. Can you
please elaborate more?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how+to+slipstream+SP2+into+Windows+XP

 

[Sirtokalott]

In my experience repairing any XP installation has never solved my problem,
I've always had to completely reinstall. Have you tried un-installing
service pack 2 and then repairing with the original disc and PK. Then
re-install service pack 2. If you can give more details about why there's a
need to repair it then perhaps I can give you more help.

If you reinstall windows in the same folder it will overwrite the current
installation and delete any files in the partition.