Legalise my XP Pro installation

conorgriff

Bought pc with xp pro installed on it and it has been upgraded to SP2, however the windows version must be an illegal copy because windows update says it's from a stolen Volume Licence Key. If I buy an OEm version of windows from komplett here, will this legalise my installation or will I simply get the error saying that the version I'm trying to install is older than the one existing on the computer? Is there even a way in which I can simply change the product key from the original stolen one to the new one I want to buy? Any help much appreciated guys, thanks
Conor

philologos

you should ask the person who sold you the PC to give you a legal serial key or report him to microsoft

Laguna

Komplett won't sell an OEM copy to you without buying a PC to go with it. It's OEM (original electronic material) therefore can only be shipped with a new system. I'd get on to whoever you bought it from (if it's a retailer) and threaten them with legal action, if you bought it from a mate there's nothing you can do, just turn off your automatic updates, they're pretty pointless anyway.

N.B With Windows Vista being released in under a year, don't blow good money on a copy of XP.

oops!, just learnt that OEM=Original Equipment Manufacturer, something everyday I tell you..

conorgriff

well I've tried getting back in contact with him but it was through buy and sell. I know there are other ways of getting around this, i.e. backing up data and reformatting, then installing an new copy of XP but I'm wondering is there a way of simply changing the product key from the old one to a new legal one, cheers

conorgriff

Laguna wrote:

Komplett won't sell an OEM copy to you without buying a PC to go with it. It's OEM (original electronic material) therefore can only be shipped with a new system. I'd get on to whoever you bought it from (if it's a retailer) and threaten them with legal action, if you bought it from a mate there's nothing you can do, just turn off your automatic updates, they're pretty pointless anyway.

N.B With Windows Vista being released in under a year, don't blow good money on XP.

Well ya only have to buy a piece of hardware for the OEM copy, not a full PC. Also figured the cost of the OEM XP + an upgrade version of Vista would be lower than a full retail version of vista

Tom Dunne

Laguna wrote:

Komplett won't sell an OEM copy to you without buying a PC to go with it. It's OEM (original electronic material) therefore can only be shipped with a new system. I'd get on to whoever you bought it from (if it's a retailer) and threaten them with legal action, if you bought it from a mate there's nothing you can do, just turn off your automatic updates, they're pretty pointless anyway.

N.B With Windows Vista being released in under a year, don't blow good money on a copy of XP.

One piece of advice I would give you conorgriff, is be careful taking advice from twits like this.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer, i.e. a PC maker such as Dell. As you correctly state, purchasing any piece of hardware entitles you to also purchase a legit copy of XP. To the best of my knowledge, the only time you can legitimise an installation of XP is during install. So, I think the only option you have is to backup all your data and do a re-installation of a legit copy of XP.

lomb

tom dunne wrote:

One piece of advice I would give you conorgriff, is be careful taking advice from twits like this.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer, i.e. a PC maker such as Dell. As you correctly state, purchasing any piece of hardware entitles you to also purchase a legit copy of XP. To the best of my knowledge, the only time you can legitimise an installation of XP is during install. So, I think the only option you have is to backup all your data and do a re-installation of a legit copy of XP.

aye this is all u can do tbh. surprised auto updates arent working, ms said theyd keep it working because otherwise virus would spread like wildfire thru all the dodgy unpatched machines and give ms a bad reputation. get an oem copy, u get alot for the money when u think about it.

Johnny Storm

I suggest you contact Microsoft and tell them what you are trying to do. I imagine they would be delighted to help you since you are trying to pay for their product.
If (incredibly) they do not help you, then in my opinion you have carte blanche to keep on using that illegal software.
Let us know how it turns out, please.

HelterSkelter

If you do a repair installation with a xp cd you have to input the serial again. Maybe this will help, I dunno.

conorgriff

thanks for the help guys, came across this and it sounds like it might be an option

timeout

The link requires a member id which i don't have but.....Yes u can change the cd key and legilise your XP. That is probably what u found out but here it is again just in case.

1. Get ur key.
2. Edit the registry, start->run->regedit. Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents In the right pane, right-click the ODBETimer binary value and select Modify. Change at least one character of this value to either a number from 0 to 9 or to a letter from A to F, then click OK and close the Registry Editor. This renders the current product key invalid and deactivates Windows.
3. U need to force a reactiviation by going to Start Menu > Run > "%systemrot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe" /a
4. Select register by phone, and on the bottom select change key.
5. input new key, call them up and activate it.

And now u should have no trouble with your updates.

Capt'n Midnight

Jakkass wrote:

you should ask the person who sold you the PC to give you a legal serial key or report him to microsoft

simple as that.
Or you could buy a full retail copy



You should have got a COA - green paper license or a sticker on the PC
without either then you aren't entitled to use the software.

You can't install OEM without the HW it was supplied with, check with komplette or other supplier to see what they will ship the OEM with - you then have to keep the recipt and the HW and license together

Microsoft did a scheme where you could rat on suppliers and they'd give you a license but AFAIK that did not apply to second hand PC's And I can't find a linkie.

Red Alert

or go back to using windows 2000. it's functionally the same as XP without the bloat

you only need to 'activate' your computer to go to the windowsupdate site, and the genuine advantage checker is no more than a little script (either ASP on the server or Javascript) that displays the link or not. try mailing yourself the link of the update you want from another PC and see how that works. or use automatic updates (which you should be doing anyway).

timeout

Red Alert wrote:

or use automatic updates (which you should be doing anyway).

The problem is he can't use automatic update coz his key is not legal:rolleyes:

Cake Fiend

timeout wrote:

The link requires a member id which i don't have but.....Yes u can change the cd key and legilise your XP. That is probably what u found out but here it is again just in case.

etc...

I'm not sure that will work here - he's got a volume licenced copy of XP, and IIRC, a single-use key will not activate a volume licenced install.

If this is the case, the quickest and easiest thing to do would probably be to reinstall over the existing copy.

Capt'n Midnight

Sico wrote:

I'm not sure that will work here - he's got a volume licenced copy of XP, and IIRC, a single-use key will not activate a volume licenced install.

If this is the case, the quickest and easiest thing to do would probably be to reinstall over the existing copy.

That may get it activated.

But it ain't legit unless you have a legit COA.

The next best thing would be to confirm that the PC shipped with one or that the brand never shipped without XP when the machine was shipped.

If it's a newish PC likely to have shipped with XP then you could ring the manufacturer as many can tell you if it shipped with OEM, or for many popular brands you could nearly take it for granted it shipped with XP Home since they don't sell it without it - but you would want to be sure. eg: most high end sony/toshiba laptops would come with XP pro and most dell dimensions with XP home. If the PC was an older machine or a clone then it probably did not come with a windows license in the first place.

layke

If you buy a legit version you can just use the Majical Jellybean keyfinder to change the key to the new one. No need to reinstall.

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/kfbeta.shtml

Also the dell box is prolly registered to the previous owner.

philologos

thats damned useful
(good advice as usual btw im bjack from boards.iol.ie)

conorgriff

thanks guys, lots of help. I'll see what I can do, might call MS tomorrow and see where I stand on replacing the current version with an oem

Supercell

If you get a legit key, then this will probably work.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q328874

Red Alert

WGA only checks on the windows update site, not the auto updates system AFAIK.