Windows XP Product Key Question

I know somone who has Windows XP Pro 32 bit installed on his PC. He lost the CD. Windows XP Pro really needs to have at least a Repair Install or a "Clean Install" (Recommended). I have exactly the same version of the Windows XP Pro CD (different Product Key) that he has installed on his PC.

Is it possible to do a Repair Install on his PC using my Windows XP Pro CD? Is it possible to do a "Clean Install" on his PC using my Windows XP Pro CD and his Product Key?

Thanks in Advance.

 

I think you can use your install cd for both purposes.

 

NO! the key will be rejected, the Keys embeded in the CD. They have to be the same CD & Key, so why not install with your CD and your Key, and if needed activate by telephone

 

I also have exactly the same problem. I have lost my XP CD for one of my pcs. But I have images taken so I'm okay. A fresh system install would have been nice though.

When I need to reinstall any of my apps I can just download the app from the website and enter the KeyCode.

So is there a similar way to reinstalling XP?

 

xp cd keys are married to the source version. OEM or retail usually. There are some stipulations in the code the OEM uses which can bugger things up. Generally though, if you have an OEM key, you simply need an OEM disc. If you have retail key, you need retail disc.

I have reinstalled many a system with my OEM disc using thier OEM key. Same goes for retail, but OEM far outweighs retail in my experience.

Some sleuthing will turn it up for you if you really want to do it. I have yet to encounter a cd key that I could not use to reinstall. I dislike how new computers don't come with a source disc anymore. I have helped a lot of people who did not understand recovery partitions get a nice fresh install using their cd key.

Sul.

 

if you can find a school edition
that is the best

 

The assumption here seems to be that it is an OEM copy though that was not stated that I see. Is that the case? In any case there are many programs out there that will retrieve the product key from the machine, so if it is a retail copy it should not be hard to get, and if OEM, what manufacturer?

 

The PC owners 'lost' Windows XP Pro CD is an Academic Upgrade version. The one that I have is an OEM version of Windows XP Pro.

 

I don't have a full-install CD for my XP home, though I do have (somewhere) the SP2 upgrade CD which IIRC can double as a full-install as of the release of SP2. (I later went to SP3 by download from MS, after I acquired broadband.)

And there's a sticker on the side of my case indicating it's an OEM version and displaying the product code, which I probably had to supply to MS when requesting that upgrade CD. So no software needed, and I assume it must have distinguished between OEM and retail versions since I've never encountered any problems with updates.

 

Your OEM CD will not likely work on an academic installation. My suggestion is to find a program that can recover the key from his current installation. I would suspect that the academic CD is the same as a retail where the software is concerned, so if you can recover the key and get a retail copy of a CD you should be able to repair/reinstall.

 

RockXP can do that.

 

Always worked for me!

 

It can but some AV will detect it as malware. Be prepared that your AV may try to delete it.

It will if the same type is used (OEM/Retail/VL). From the info I can find Academic would be the same as Retail so using an OEM disk to install will result in it complaining that the key is invalid. I think there are workarounds possible but the easiest solution would be to find a retail copy and use RockXP or something similar to extract the original key.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I managed to talk the PC owner into buying the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack (3 PC's). Soon he will have a Windows 7 Home Premium "Clean Install" to replace his Windows XP Pro 32 bit.

 

I take it the computer did not have a recovery partition on it?

Sounds like you solved it. If he decides to try to recover the XP product key, this might work, it looks free. I haven't used it and can't vouch for it though.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

 

A "Homemade" PC. He successfully recovered the XP product key and "Activated" Windows XP Pro by Phone.

His new motherboard also supports Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit OS's.