Replace Pirated copy

[Bill Brouwer]

Due to 'Buyer (me) not being aware' I have ended up with what turns out to
being a pirated copy of Windows XP Pro on my PC. The vendor of the PC is
out of business likely due shady business pratices. I have just purchased a
full legal copy of Windows XP Professional and wish to know how to apply the
new 'key' without reformating my whole harddrive.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Jym]

Do a repair install with you new copy of XP. This will not delete any files
except download updates that are not included on the new disk. During this
procedure you will be prompted for the key that was included with the new XP
disk. Jym

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Bill,

Do a repair installation with the valid Product Key. Follow these steps to
do a repair install which should preserve your data, settings, and programs:

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM
drive.
2. Restart your computer. If you have to, change the BIOS settings to start
from
the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer again.
3. At the "Welcome to Setup" page, press ENTER.
4. Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
5. Use the arrow keys to select the installation of Windows XP that you want
to
repair, and then press R to start the automatic repair process.
6. When Setup is completed, activate Windows XP.

You will need to redo all Windows Updates once the process has completed to
bring the system up to date.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Steve C. Ray]

Bill, your new XP must be a retail copy, not a OEM version to do a repair
install.
If you don't know how to do a repair install, follow these instructions:

Read this all the way thru before starting.

You will need to do a repair install. Follow these steps:

Set your BIOS to have the CD drive as the first boot device.

Start the operating system from the CD-ROM,

When the computer starts from the CD, the system checks your hardware

and then prompts you to select one of the following options:

To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.


Press ENTER.


Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.

A box lists your current Windows XP installation, and then the system

prompts you to select one of the following options:

To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.

To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press
ESC.

Press R to start the automatic repair process. After repairing Windows XP,
set your BIOS back to have the hard drive as the first boot device.

Have your new Product Key at hand as you will have to re-activate.

You will need re-download all updates. Your new XP disk will probably have
SP1 included on it (look at the disk). If it doesn't you need to install SP1
first.You can go to the Windows site and download the XP Rollup 1 package,
which will make
the reinstalling of the updates much easier and quicker.

The repair installation should leave all your data and settings intact, but
you may want to backup critical data.

Post back if you have other questions.

 

[Quandon]

Bill, your new XP must be a retail copy, not a OEM version to do a repair
install.

I just did a repair install yesterday with an OEM disk.

No problems.

You shouldn't be able to do an *upgrade* with OEM, because it should only be
sold with a new computer, so it shouldn't have XP on there in the first place.


Quandon

 

[Michael Stevens]

Due to 'Buyer (me) not being aware' I have ended up with what turns
out to being a pirated copy of Windows XP Pro on my PC. The vendor
of the PC is out of business likely due shady business pratices. I
have just purchased a full legal copy of Windows XP Professional and
wish to know how to apply the new 'key' without reformating my whole
harddrive.

Thanks,
Bill

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
Change CD key.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#need2
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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