Where do I get an Activation Key for Windows XP Home SP2?

[Umma Gumma]

By using PE Builder I have created an installation CD of my OEM factory
installed HP Windows XP Home Operating System. As a test case I installed it
to a VMware Workstation 6 virtual machine. I wanted to be sure the install
would work. I accessed a piece of freeware off the internet to find out my
CD key. Using that I installed it to the virtual machine. Now the
installation keeps requesting an activation and tells me I have 30 days.
Presumably this means that within 30 days of installation the Operating
System will die.

How can I now use my OEM license to activate this installation?

I mean after all, I am the legitimate owner of this copy of Windows XP Home.
Thanks.

 

[Maincat]

By using PE Builder I have created an installation CD of my OEM factory
installed HP Windows XP Home Operating System. As a test case I installed
it to a VMware Workstation 6 virtual machine. I wanted to be sure the
install would work. I accessed a piece of freeware off the internet to
find out my CD key. Using that I installed it to the virtual machine. Now
the installation keeps requesting an activation and tells me I have 30
days. Presumably this means that within 30 days of installation the
Operating System will die.

How can I now use my OEM license to activate this installation?

I mean after all, I am the legitimate owner of this copy of Windows XP
Home. Thanks.

As I understand it, one copy, one license, one install. Read the EULA.

 

[Maincat]

By using PE Builder I have created an installation CD of my OEM factory
installed HP Windows XP Home Operating System. As a test case I installed
it to a VMware Workstation 6 virtual machine. I wanted to be sure the
install would work. I accessed a piece of freeware off the internet to
find out my CD key. Using that I installed it to the virtual machine. Now
the installation keeps requesting an activation and tells me I have 30
days. Presumably this means that within 30 days of installation the
Operating System will die.

How can I now use my OEM license to activate this installation?

I mean after all, I am the legitimate owner of this copy of Windows XP
Home. Thanks.

More than that, you are the owner of a license to use the software as per
the EULA. You are not the owner of the software itself.

 

[Dave B.]

You cannot, per the OEM license, use your product key on any PC other than
the one it shipped with, and a Virtual Machine qualifies as another PC. You
will need to purchase another license to use a VM.

 

[Joan Archer]

As others have told you you cannot activate this version on a different
machine and my understanding was that you were only testing it to see if
it did work, which it obviously does so I would have thought the sensible
thing now would be to uninstall it.
Joan

 

[Rock]

By using PE Builder I have created an installation CD of my OEM factory
installed HP Windows XP Home Operating System. As a test case I installed
it to a VMware Workstation 6 virtual machine. I wanted to be sure the
install would work. I accessed a piece of freeware off the internet to
find out my CD key. Using that I installed it to the virtual machine. Now
the installation keeps requesting an activation and tells me I have 30
days. Presumably this means that within 30 days of installation the
Operating System will die.

How can I now use my OEM license to activate this installation?

I mean after all, I am the legitimate owner of this copy of Windows XP
Home.

A pre-installed OEM version of the OS is licensed for use only on the
computer on which it came installed. It cannot be transferred to a
different computer including use in a VM. If you want transferability you
need to use a retail license. Even with that only one copy of the license
can be installed at any one time. A VM session counts as a separate
installation.

 

[Umma Gumma]

As others have told you you cannot activate this version on a different
machine and my understanding was that you were only testing it to see if
it did work, which it obviously does so I would have thought the sensible
thing now would be to uninstall it.
Joan

Well it does...and it doesn't. It requires activation. So presumably that
means if I use it to install on the primary machine (the host machine in
this case) it will still require activation, ergo...won't work. That's as I
understand it. Am I wrong?

To put everyone's mind to rest, I HAVE UNINSTALLED IT. Right now I feel like
I've made a coaster.....

 

[Guest]

And by the way, it did work, the copy booted, it just needs activation, as it
would when you restored the image to your orginal machine, if you expected it
to be already activated, then you are mistaken.

 

[Umma Gumma]

And by the way, it did work, the copy booted, it just needs activation, as
it
would when you restored the image to your orginal machine, if you expected
it
to be already activated, then you are mistaken.

Yes but if I used it for my primary install rather than going through the 8
CDs HP's disk creation utility created for me how would I activate it?

 

[Bob I]

Yes but if I used it for my primary install rather than going through the 8
CDs HP's disk creation utility created for me how would I activate it?

The correct "key" should be on a sticker on the case. THAT is required
of OEMs by Microsoft to be in compliance with the license agreement.

 

[Umma Gumma]

The correct "key" should be on a sticker on the case. THAT is required of
OEMs by Microsoft to be in compliance with the license agreement.

I got no disk. I had to create 8 of them myself with a utility HP supplied
to burn the CDs. The system was imbedded in the computer and activated when
I first booted it up. It must be big. There are a lot of freebees included
and a lot of spam. Once you install the "system" you have to do a lot of
deleting. Some of it Spybot Search and Destroy objected to. I got a "key" of
sorts from a utility I found on the web that grabs that information from the
operating system. Once I'd used UBCD for Windows and PEBuilder to create one
single CD with Windows drivers and SP2 included, I installed into a virtual
machine to test the installation. The CD accepted the key I had obtained
using the utility. But the system still needs to be validated with
Microsoft. My point is....if I can't validate this CD with Microsoft then I
have to resort to all those 8 CDs for an install. It takes half a day! When
it should only be ONE CD. So, the long and short of it is I don't have a
case and I don't have a sticker on the case....

 

[Bob I]

I got no disk. I had to create 8 of them myself with a utility HP supplied
to burn the CDs. The system was imbedded in the computer and activated when
I first booted it up. It must be big. There are a lot of freebees included
and a lot of spam. Once you install the "system" you have to do a lot of
deleting. Some of it Spybot Search and Destroy objected to. I got a "key" of
sorts from a utility I found on the web that grabs that information from the
operating system. Once I'd used UBCD for Windows and PEBuilder to create one
single CD with Windows drivers and SP2 included, I installed into a virtual
machine to test the installation. The CD accepted the key I had obtained
using the utility. But the system still needs to be validated with
Microsoft. My point is....if I can't validate this CD with Microsoft then I
have to resort to all those 8 CDs for an install. It takes half a day! When
it should only be ONE CD. So, the long and short of it is I don't have a
case and I don't have a sticker on the case....

The computer case. On desktop the side, top or back. Laptop, typically
the bottom. The key you scraped from the install was likely the factory
image nuber and wouldn't work for you. As an aside the "virtual install"
isn't likely to fly.

 

[Umma Gumma]

The computer case. On desktop the side, top or back. Laptop, typically the
bottom. The key you scraped from the install was likely the factory image
nuber and wouldn't work for you. As an aside the "virtual install" isn't
likely to fly.

Oh hey! I'll take a look. Thank you! I never thought of that!

 

[Bob I]

Oh hey! I'll take a look. Thank you! I never thought of that!

You're welcome, have a good day!

 

[C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T]

Well it does...and it doesn't. It requires activation. So presumably that
means if I use it to install on the primary machine (the host machine in
this case) it will still require activation, ergo...won't work. That's as I
understand it. Am I wrong?

To put everyone's mind to rest, I HAVE UNINSTALLED IT. Right now I feel like
I've made a coaster.....

You didn't make a coaster. What you need to understand is that the VM is
a totally 'different' machine. Meaning that it is identifying itself
differently to Windows then your hardware machine.

I have an HP dv8100cto, and when I install my system disk on it, it
doesn't even require activation. The license is tied to the BIOS of my
computer. If I turn around and install that same disk in either
Microsoft VPC2007 or VMPlayer, it wants to be activated.

VMs have a BIOS, and that BIOS is not the same as my hardware BIOS, the
Windows installer sees that and requires an activation.

The need for activation is normally triggered by new hardware. In your
case, the VM is all new hardware so of course it will want to be activated.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

"A promise is nothing more than an attempt
to respond to an unreasonable demand."

http://blog.tlerma.com/

A Windows professional's view of entering the World of Linux