XP Licence Key After Reinstall?

[Guest]

I've had to reload XP home several times over the past few months with the
OEM CD supplied on my Dell 4400 pc. Reason for reload is the after about a 30
day period I begin getting messages after boot that the XP licence cannot be
autheticated and I cannot get past the "Welcome Users" screen and in some
cases the established users have disapeared. During reinstall I never get
asked for the licence key which I do have. My question is, Can I add the
legal licence key that I have to my exsisting install and how is that done? I
allmost fear that the key is not getting applied somehow during my
reinstalls, in turn causing some kind of 30 day licence clock to start
ticking..

Regards,
dphkr

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, dphkr.

What did Dell say when you asked them? OEM installations of WinXP are
supported by the OEM, not by Microsoft. The OEM controls the batches of
WinXP licenses that they get from MS and include with their hardware.

In addition to the official Dell support, you might want to try the Usenet
newsgroup alt.sys.pc-clone.dell to see what other Dell users can suggest.

RC

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

What advice does Dell give you? It sounds like you need to activate
Windows. You say which computer the cd came with but you do not say what
computer you have installed Home onto now. If it is not the same computer,
then you need to buy a retail copy of Windows XP Home and then post back
here and someone will tell you how use the new product code with your
computer.

 

[Guest]

The XP home os cd is the same cd that I recieved with the computer I'm doing
the reinstall on. I have not talked to Dell yet...

What advice does Dell give you? It sounds like you need to activate
Windows. You say which computer the cd came with but you do not say what
computer you have installed Home onto now. If it is not the same computer,
then you need to buy a retail copy of Windows XP Home and then post back
here and someone will tell you how use the new product code with your
computer.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I've had to reload XP home several times over the past few months with the
OEM CD supplied on my Dell 4400 pc. Reason for reload is the after about a
30
day period I begin getting messages after boot that the XP licence cannot
be
autheticated and I cannot get past the "Welcome Users" screen and in some
cases the established users have disapeared. During reinstall I never get
asked for the licence key which I do have. My question is, Can I add the
legal licence key that I have to my exsisting install and how is that
done? I
allmost fear that the key is not getting applied somehow during my
reinstalls, in turn causing some kind of 30 day licence clock to start
ticking..

Regards,
dphkr

 

[Guest]

If you are not asked during reinstallation for the license key, chances are
--very good-- that the license key is integrated into the CD. Generally
speaking, this is done through the use of a winnt.sif or sysprep.inf file,
depending on the OEM CD. Try looking for that file on your installation CD
and see if you can find your "key". (Please don't post it here!) If you can
find your key, you should be able to activate your copy of Windows XP, which
ought to prevent future 30-day installations.

A couple of other notes: you can check to see if your license is valid by
trying to download one of the validated Windows downloads, like Microsoft
AntiSpyware. (In my opinion, it's worth it to download this little program
anyway!) If you need a specific walkthrough, let me know, but the download
should be accessible from http://www.microsoft.com/spyware or the Microsoft
download center. Let us know if this doesn't answer your question!

 

[Guest]

Before this latest reinstall I was able to load MS Antispware and also load
all XP updates, SP1 and SP2 without issue. Is it assumed that Microsoft
verifies you have a valid copy of their software before they allow you to
proceed with any downloads from their servers?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

That is their plan, but they are phasing it in. Right now they are asking
you to authenticate before downloading enhancements, but providing a link to
download anyway if you prefer not to authenticate. Expect that to change by
summer and require authentication before downloading. They will begin to
apply the policy to patches and service packs on Windows Updates as well,
probably by summer. In theory you should only have to authenticate
successfully once and then Microsoft will not have to keep asking.

 

[Guest]

Hello dphr ,
I am going to post this just in case you stop back by. I had this problem
wi9th a home user. I chose to do a quick reinstall without formatting and
then chose the over the phone option for the key code . I explained about
the OEM issue and within 5 minutes she gave me a new number for the user. All
told with hold time I was on the phone about 15 min. You may want to explore
that option.
Best of luck to you

ron J

 

[Chuck Davis]

Hello dphr ,
I am going to post this just in case you stop back by. I had this
problem
wi9th a home user. I chose to do a quick reinstall without formatting and
then chose the over the phone option for the key code . I explained about
the OEM issue and within 5 minutes she gave me a new number for the user.
All
told with hold time I was on the phone about 15 min. You may want to
explore
that option.
Best of luck to you

ron J

Download, install and run Belarc Advisor from http://www.belarc.com It
will tell you your software licenses and keys, for most newer programs on
your computer, plus loads of other information.