Xp Serial Number

[X-Cannon]

I have a lil problem on my other PC I have Win XP Pro but I can't update to SP2 or any

other updates so how can I put in a real serial number because the one I bought isn't

working anymore I don't want to format than install XP with the other number. I just

want to put in the number with all of my files intact.

[mikex]

you "should" be able to contact M$. You "may" have to purchase the license, not sure.

M

[X-Cannon]

I have 2 real numbers the one that can't be used anymore is my friends and the one I want to use is the one I bought, so how can I put in the serial number which I bought without formating my PC?

[iccaros]

if you call MS techsupport at $200 a call they will tell you to buy a new license and reinstall with that number. so save yoru self $200 and reinstall with a good number. and don't steal any more software.

[X-Cannon]

ok I will say this again and serious posts only please I have an orignal XP Pro CD but I didn't have it at that time so I borrowed a friends I installed it on my other PC and it won't let me update to SP2, this PC I'm on I bought and have an orignal serial number. what do I do to get the orignal number form this PC on to that one without installing windows or formating?

[mikex]

X

I googled ~change xp id~ and got plenty of illegal sites. No solid info on how to change the registration number. There are utilities to change the registered user tho.

I found my id key four places in the registry. I not saying this will work. Try at your own risk until someone with more knowledge than me comes along.

R.click on my computer the copy the id number.

start/run/regedit

in regedit

ctrl+f = find

paste the id this will give the first location

F3 to go on to the next.

Again this will show the id key, I do not advise changing anything until you get more input.

M

[JSKY]

One way I believe is with Magicjellybean, It shows your key, and I do believe it allows you to change it. magicjellybean

Here is how from M$.

change the Volume Licensing product key on a Windows XP

Or one last way is to do a repair install of XP. Do the second part. And when it ask for the key, put in the new one.

There are two types of repair on XP. When you boot with the XP disk. You will come to the first part that asks if you want to install or do a repair. This first repair is a command prompt type for a specific repair. AT THIS POINT! If you click on install XP instead, you will see XP load files as it get ready to install the OS. When it gets done loading files, you will again be asked to install XP or to repair your current OS. At this second repair option, click to repair and sit back. XP will go through your whole system searching and repairing parts that have been changed or need to be replaced. BUT REMEMBER!! With any repair you will need your CD KEY. And you MUST go to windows update and re-download some of the updates because the repair will remove some of them.

Edited February 28, 2005 by JSKY

[X-Cannon]

alright if those are my only options I'll try the XP repair hope there was something else though THX and mikex for replying and thank you iccaros aswell.

[mikex]

not a prob. sorry we could not give you the easy way.

M

[iccaros]

it was a serious post.. It is a crime to use anothers registration number.. having a CD means nothing..you can get them from MS for $5 with no license.

their is no way to change your registration number once entered in to XP that number is the base pair at which your system SID and PKI keys are generated. You have to reinstall .. their is a way using the windows tool for creating images of a install to change your sid.. its called newsid and its put out by Microsoft. This along with sysprep keeps your current information (programs installed) but clears out users and make you re-enter your serial number. ( so at this time you can put your number in)

read that 3 times.. if you used EFS to encrypt folders or files you must..must un encrypt them before you do this.. also any thing in users home folders will be gone when this is done.

Sysprep is a tool designed for corporate system administrators, OEMs, and others who need to deploy the Windows® XP operating system on multiple computers. After performing the initial setup steps on a single system, you can run Sysprep to prepare the sample computer for cloning.

To use Sysprep as part of the disk duplication process, the following requirements must be met:

•

The master installation and the destination computers must have compatible hardware abstraction layers (HALs). For example, HAL APIC and HAL MPs (multiprocessor systems) are compatible, whereas HAL PIC (Programmable Interrupt Controller) is not compatible with either HAL APIC or HAL MPs.

•

The mass–storage controllers (IDE or SCSI) must be identical between the reference and destination computers.

•

Plug and Play devices such as modems, sound cards, network cards, video cards, and so on, do not have to be the same. However, any device drivers not included in Drivers.cab should be included in the master installation before you run Sysprep. Alternatively, make sure the uninstalled drivers are available on the destination computer at first run, so Plug and Play can detect and install the drivers.

•

Third–party software or disk–duplicating hardware devices are required. These products create binary images of a computer’s hard disk, and they either duplicate the image to another hard disk or store the image in a file on a separate disk.

•

The size of the destination computer’s hard disk must be at least the same size as the hard disk of the master installation. If the destination computer has a larger hard disk, the difference is not included in the primary partition. However, you can use the ExtendOemPartition entry in the Sysprep.inf file to extend the primary partition if it was formatted to use the NTFS file system.

Note If the reference and destination computers have different BIOS versions, you should test the process first to ensure success. When using Sysprep for Disk Duplication, Sysprep modifies the local computer Security ID (SID) so that it is unique to each computer.

How to prepare a master installation for cloning

1.

Install Windows XP on a master computer. As a best practice, Microsoft recommends that Windows XP be installed from a distribution folder by using an answer file to help ensure consistency in configuring the master installation, so that iterative builds can be created and tested more readily. See Unattend.txt for information about automating Windows Setup using an answer file.

2.

Log on to the computer as an administrator.

3.

(Optional) Install and customize applications, such as Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer favorite items, and so on.

4.

(Optional) Install any device drivers not included in Drivers.cab and not installed by the answer file.

5.

(Optional) Run audit tests.

6.

(Optional) If you want, create a Sysprep.inf file manually or with the aid of Setup Manager. This file is used to further customize each computer for the user and helps to set the amount of information for which the user will be prompted during Mini–Setup.

7.

Run Sysprep.exe. Make sure that both the Sysprep.exe and Setupcl.exe files exist together in the %systemdrive%\Sysprep folder on the local hard disk. When used, the Sysprep.inf also needs to be in the same folder or on a floppy disk that is inserted when the Windows boot menu appears.

Important If Setupcl.exe is not in the same directory as Sysprep.exe, Sysprep will not work.

8.

If the computer is ACPI–compliant, the computer will shut down by itself. If not, a dialog box appears stating that it is safe to shut down the computer.

9.

Take out the system drive and follow the steps for duplicating the system on other computers. You must have special equipment or software for duplicating hard disks.

After a duplicated hard disk is inserted into a computer, when the user turns the computer on, the following occurs:

1.

Plug and Play detection occurs – this takes approximately three minutes.

2.

Mini–Setup prompts users to:

•

Accept the EULA.

•

Specify their name and organization.

•

Join a domain or a workgroup.

•

Specify regional options information.

•

Specify TAPI information.

•

Specify the networking protocols and services to install.

Note If a Sysprep.inf file was used when running Sysprep.exe, only the dialog boxes omitted in the .inf file are presented to the user. If display settings are omitted, the default settings are used instead.

3.

The local Sysprep folder containing Sysprep.exe and Sysprep.inf in %systemdrive% is deleted.

4.

The computer restarts and a logon prompt displays.

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Edited March 2, 2005 by iccaros

[irregularjoe]

How to change XP activation code

Not sure if that helps, but there it is.