WinXP Home Repair:OEM or Retail PID Key?

[Guest]

I will be running the Repair on my home computer to try to solve some
performance issues. It has an OEM version of XP Home but I will be using the
retail cd. Which PID key should I use: the one provided by the OEM (sticker
on the machine) or the one on the retail CD? Would I need to Activate again?

 

[Daave]

I will be running the Repair on my home computer to try to solve some
performance issues. It has an OEM version of XP Home but I will be
using the retail cd. Which PID key should I use: the one provided by
the OEM (sticker on the machine) or the one on the retail CD? Would I
need to Activate again?

A repair installation might not be warranted. What specific performance
issues are you experiencing?

 

[Guest]

The computer crashed and didn't respond to any of the restart options such
as: Safe or Previous known Configuration. I tried all the possible options
but nothing worked.
I just did the Repair using the retail Cd+ Key; it took several re-starts in
the middle of the setup but finally finished. Now after I enter the password
it tells me that the version of WinXP needs to be registered and asks me if I
want to do so. When I reply Yes, it loggs off again. I assume this is because
the PID Key I used doesn't match the OEM originally installed.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I will be running the Repair on my home computer to try to solve some
performance issues. It has an OEM version of XP Home but I will be using the
retail cd.

That won't work as a repair; you'd replace the OEM license with the
retail license.

Which PID key should I use: the one provided by the OEM (sticker
on the machine) or the one on the retail CD? Would I need to Activate again?

Product Keys are bound to the specific type and language of
CD/license (OEM, Volume, retail, full, or Upgrade) with which they are
purchased. For example, a WinXP Home OEM Product Key won't work for any
retail version of WinXP Home, or for any version of WinXP Pro, and vice
versa. An upgrade's Product Key cannot be used with a full version CD,
and vice versa. An OEM Product Key will not work to install a retail
product. An Italian Product Key will not work with an English CD.
Bottom line: Product Keys and CD types cannot be mixed & matched.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Daave]

That won't work as a repair; you'd replace the OEM license with the
retail license.

I know the upgrade path is usually something like:

OEM Home to OEM Pro.

and

Retail Home to Retail Pro.

Is it possible to upgrade (that is, installing without a clean install)
from OEM Home to Retail Home? That is, of course, assuming the Retail
Home CD is legit, the license is not currently in use, and the Retail
Home key is used?

How about from OEM Home to Retail Pro?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I know the upgrade path is usually something like:

OEM Home to OEM Pro.

Actually, no. OEM CDs cannot perform upgrades, only clean (or repair of
the same OS) installations.

and

Retail Home to Retail Pro.

Is it possible to upgrade (that is, installing without a clean install)
from OEM Home to Retail Home? That is, of course, assuming the Retail
Home CD is legit, the license is not currently in use, and the Retail
Home key is used?

It's called a repair installation or in-place upgrade, and it is possible.

How about from OEM Home to Retail Pro?

Certainly.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Guest]

Daave, Bruce,
Tks a lot for your feedback.
I guess the only option I have in order to properly do the Repair is to get
a hold of the OEM CD. Correct?

 

[Daave]

Daave asked:

"Bruce Chambers" answered:

I guess the only option I have in order to properly do the Repair is
to get a hold of the OEM CD. Correct?

Hmmm. I think I need some clarification, too!

Pacho, assuming the license associated with the Retail Home CD you're
using is not currently on another PC, Bruce indicated that a repair
installation (also know as "in-place upgrade) *is* possible.

Then, again, there was this exchange from another thread:

Bruce answered:
That won't work as a repair; you'd replace the OEM license with the
retail license.

Bruce, assuming Pacho uses the Retail license's key, wouldn't this in
fact be a Repair installation?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Daave, Bruce,
Tks a lot for your feedback.

You welcome.

I guess the only option I have in order to properly do the Repair is to get
a hold of the OEM CD. Correct?

It's not your "only" option, but that would be your best choice,
because it uses the existing OEM license for the computer.

You can perform an in-place upgrade using a retail CD and Product Key,
but that would entail *replacing* the laptop's OEM license with the
retail license. In affect, you'll have two licenses bound to a single
computer, which is somewhat wasteful, in my opinion. Additionally, you
can't legitimately do this if that retail license is already in use on
another computer.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hmmm. I think I need some clarification, too!

Pacho, assuming the license associated with the Retail Home CD you're
using is not currently on another PC, Bruce indicated that a repair
installation (also know as "in-place upgrade) *is* possible.

Then, again, there was this exchange from another thread:




Bruce, assuming Pacho uses the Retail license's key, wouldn't this in
fact be a Repair installation?

Not strictly speaking, as use of the retail Product Key would "preempt"
or replace the OEM license. This would therefore be more along the
lines of an in-place upgrade. But I can see how my original response
led to this confusion. At this point, we're treading into the gray area
of semantics. The way I explain it is that using the same type of
license constitutes a "repair installation," while using a different
type of license makes it an "in-place upgrade." From a purely technical
point of view, though, a "repair installation" and an "in-place upgrade"
are identical.

Of course, the overall affect would be essentially the same, except
that the OP would end up with two licenses bound to the one computer:
the permanently-bound OEM license and the newly installed retail
license. If the OP has an extra retail license on hand, for which he
has no foreseeable future use, this may be a viable option for him.

Still, I think that his best course of action, from an economic point
of view, would probably be to find/borrow an unbranded, generic OEM CD
to use with his current OEM license, rather than tying an additional
(retail) license to that one computer.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Daave]

Not strictly speaking, as use of the retail Product Key would
"preempt" or replace the OEM license. This would therefore be more
along the lines of an in-place upgrade. But I can see how my
original response led to this confusion. At this point, we're
treading into the gray area of semantics. The way I explain it is
that using the same type of license constitutes a "repair
installation," while using a different type of license makes it an
"in-place upgrade." From a purely technical point of view, though, a
"repair installation" and an "in-place upgrade" are identical.

Of course, the overall affect would be essentially the same, except
that the OP would end up with two licenses bound to the one computer:
the permanently-bound OEM license and the newly installed retail
license. If the OP has an extra retail license on hand, for which he
has no foreseeable future use, this may be a viable option for him.

Still, I think that his best course of action, from an economic point
of view, would probably be to find/borrow an unbranded, generic OEM CD
to use with his current OEM license, rather than tying an additional
(retail) license to that one computer.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

You're welcome.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Guest]

Bruce, Dave,
Tks a lot for all your feedback. I already ordered the OEM CD; should have
it by the end of the week.

 

[Guest]

Quick update and more questions...
I got the original Sony Recovery DVD for my computer. I was hopping it would
give me the option to do a Win Repair, but it doesn't. All the recovery
options it gives me specifically say that they will delete all my programs
and files and re-install the original SW and configuration the computer came
with in the first place. I don't want to do this since I want to try to
recover my files from the HD (assuming it is still good).

This is what I intend to do; please let me know if it is the right approach:

1. Buy a new HD (ATA, 200 to 250 GB), similar to the original - I may even
try to find the exact same model, but this may not be possible.
2. Replace the original HD with the new
3. Use the OEM Recovery DVD to reinstall the original SW and configuration
to the new HD. I assume the original PID key for WinXP Home (with SP2) I have
(sticker on the machine) will work. QUESTION: Will the new HD cause any
"activation" issues with WinXP?
4. Download and install all the applicable Win Updates, antivirus SW and
Microsoft Malicious SW Removal Tool, et.
At this point the machine should be as good as new. Correct?
5. Install the original HD as a Slave
6. Scan this HD for viruses and malware
7. Try to recover all the files I need
8. Assuming I succeed, reformat the original HD (running as as Slave)

Does this make sense? Anything I need to be aware of?
Tks!
5. Instal

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Quick update and more questions...
I got the original Sony Recovery DVD for my computer. I was hopping it would
give me the option to do a Win Repair, but it doesn't. All the recovery
options it gives me specifically say that they will delete all my programs
and files and re-install the original SW and configuration the computer came
with in the first place. I don't want to do this since I want to try to
recover my files from the HD (assuming it is still good).

This is what I intend to do; please let me know if it is the right approach:

1. Buy a new HD (ATA, 200 to 250 GB), similar to the original - I may even
try to find the exact same model, but this may not be possible.
2. Replace the original HD with the new
3. Use the OEM Recovery DVD to reinstall the original SW and configuration
to the new HD. I assume the original PID key for WinXP Home (with SP2) I have
(sticker on the machine) will work. QUESTION: Will the new HD cause any
"activation" issues with WinXP?

This shouldn't cause any activation issues, but a lot hinges upon
exactly how Sony designed their Recovery CD. I've encountered some (HP,
if I recall correctly) that wouldn't work if there had been *any* change
to the original hardware configuration. I actually had to remove some
after-market RAM from one system to get the Recovery CD to work, and
then put the RAM upgrade back in. This, however, seems to be a rare
case, but the possibility exists that the Sony Recovery CD won't "like"
the new hard drive. Unfortunately, you won't know until you try.

4. Download and install all the applicable Win Updates, antivirus SW and
Microsoft Malicious SW Removal Tool, et.
At this point the machine should be as good as new. Correct?
5. Install the original HD as a Slave
6. Scan this HD for viruses and malware
7. Try to recover all the files I need
8. Assuming I succeed, reformat the original HD (running as as Slave)

Other than the one caveat above, it should work.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Guest]

Perfect. I will let you know how it goes.
Tks a lot for your help!

 

[Guest]

Quick update: Everything worked perfectly. Installed the new HD, put Sony's
original Recovery DVD in the drive and the whole installation was very
smooth. Of course I am now in the process of installing (82) Windows updates,
and re-installing all the additional SW I had on the computer. The very good
thing is that the original HD is still working and I didn't loose any data.
Tks again for all your support

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Quick update: Everything worked perfectly. Installed the new HD, put Sony's
original Recovery DVD in the drive and the whole installation was very
smooth. Of course I am now in the process of installing (82) Windows updates,
and re-installing all the additional SW I had on the computer. The very good
thing is that the original HD is still working and I didn't loose any data.
Tks again for all your support

Glad to hear it worked out for you. Thanks for the update.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Daave]

Quick update: Everything worked perfectly. Installed the new HD, put
Sony's original Recovery DVD in the drive and the whole installation
was very
smooth. Of course I am now in the process of installing (82) Windows
updates, and re-installing all the additional SW I had on the
computer. The very good thing is that the original HD is still
working and I didn't loose any data.
Tks again for all your support

Great news!

I don't recall if you mentioned this or not elsewhere in the thread: Do
you have an external hard drive? Do you have an imaging program like
Acronis True Image? If not, you should look into getting them; this way,
you can make an image of your hard drive once you have all your updates,
software, etc., installed. And if you ever have a serious problem down
the road, you can always restore the image to your hard drive: instant
fresh install! (Also make sure to back up your data regularly.)