googlemad Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 For some reason one of our community PCs *looks* to have some form of retail XP installed rather than the VLK copy we own. Trouble is - Activation is required on it and it won't accept the VLK key! Is there any simple way to convert it without formatting?
SYNACK Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 From the looks of it the only way people have found is doing a repair install with volume media. 1
powdarrmonkey Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 I've never come across anyone who's managed it, sorry.
kmount Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Think if your vlk media has embedded sp2 it will "upgrade". Worth a go..
Michael Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 As far as I am aware, formatting is the only way. Windows license keys are specific per Windows version.
FN-GM Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Think if your vlk media has embedded sp2 it will "upgrade". Worth a go.. Yep that will work.
googlemad Posted August 21, 2008 Author Posted August 21, 2008 The problem with 'upgrading' is I can't actually get into XP to run setup from within XP if you get what I mean!
LeMarchand Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 The problem with 'upgrading' is I can't actually get into XP to run setup from within XP if you get what I mean! If you're trying the "repair installation" method, surely you don't need to get into XP - just boot from your VLK media.
Michael Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 The problem with 'upgrading' is I can't actually get into XP to run setup from within XP if you get what I mean! You wouldn't be upgrading as such but repairing. You cannot upgrade XP to XP. When your computer first POSTs (power on self test), you boot off your Windows installation disc, follow the on screen menu and choose to repair the existing installation. You'll see something like this: Press any key to boot from CD.... If you do not see this, you need to get into your BIOS (usually pressing the DEL key or F2 typically), then change the boot sequence to your CD/DVD drive first, then your local disk which holds Windows. Please let us know how you get on, as I still have my reservations whether this'll work, but if the others say it does, it probably does. If you had a lot of machines to do, starting again from scratch and creating an image would be quicker.
tarquel Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 If you're trying the "repair installation" method, surely you don't need to get into XP - just boot from your VLK media. Googlemad was on about upgrading by putting the CD into the machine while in Windows I dont think it performs the same processes as a "in-place repair" (i.e. boot CD and choose repair) does it? Tho I cant think of one time where i've used the setup of XP within a OS to upgrade from one OS to XP. Clean install is usually the best idea though. If you can get in through the administrative shares and take off any data you need, then i cant see why you'd want to install XP over the top of itself really (depending on your deployment method of course ]. Regards Nath.
LCPSWolf Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 I was about to post a thread on this, but found this one instead... I had this same issue myself and found this answer here: http://www.compdigitec.com/labs/2009/07/01/switch-windows-xp-licensing-type-with-cd/ Switch Windows XP licensing type and/or Service Pack with CD By admin | July 1, 2009 If you install a new copy of Windows XP with a retail CD and later try to feed it a volume license (VLK) serial number, Windows will not accept it. Fortunately, there is a way to switch the Windows licensing type without having to reinstall completely. This method can also be used to switch the Service Pack of Windows XP with a CD. Requirements * A Windows XP CD with your desired licensing type and service pack * A Windows XP computer Steps 1. Insert the Windows XP CD into the computer. 2. Restart the computer, booting from CD. 3. Once Setup has loaded, press Enter. 4. Accept the license by pressing F8. 5. Setup will then search for previous (or current) versions of Windows already present on the computer. Once it finds the current installed Windows, select R for “repair”. 6. Setup will copy a batch of files, then reboot. After the reboot it will re-configure your computer, in which it may (or may not) ask you for a new serial number (e.g. retail to volume licensing). 7. After a long time reconfiguring, setup will reboot into your newly converted XP install. I'm hoping this does work, as I recently spent hours configuring an image from a base laptop that my boss gave me - next I'm I'll reformat it myself with our VLK media! I'll post back in Monday to let you know if this does work in our case.
LCPSWolf Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) So far I haven't had any luck with this process. I follow the steps do the repair, and the XP Pro CD faithfully reinstalls my OS - all the changes I have made to the image are basically gone (my programs are still on the c: drive, but all icons, customizations, user accounts, etc, are gone). Ah well. *** After trying again, a repair install did solve this issue and keep my installed programs, etc. I did have to reinstall SP3 however, having used XP Sp2 slipstream to do the repair *** Edited July 21, 2009 by LCPSWolf Updated solution
mac_shinobi Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 you could possibly do this How to change the Volume Licensing product key on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 1 and later versions of Windows XP In regedit \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\WPAEvents\OOBETimer edit and delete 2 bytes from the value then run : %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a and take the "get activation over phone" (or something like that) option down the bottom there is a "change cd key " button click that then enter your "new" cd key Then close the dialog box and reboot then run the aformentioned "program": %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a and it should tell you Activation is done or something along those lines.. If that does not work then it will be a repair install
LCPSWolf Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Mac Shinobi, Great idea! Thanks. In the past few minutes, I was able to get a repair install going that appears to have kept my programs (etc) installed, but I'll try your method on another laptop as well - I'd prefer the regedit one if I ever need it in the future.
plexer Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 You cannot use a VLK key to licence a different key type of XP, so following the guide above to change the key will just result in your being told it's invalid. Ben 1
LCPSWolf Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Ben, Ah, good point - I should have seen that. Thanks.
mac_shinobi Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Ben, Ah, good point - I should have seen that. Thanks. Am guessing the first thing did not work and it has to be a repair install ?
mac_shinobi Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Thanks very much. It's work come again in english ? what worked ? what did you do ?
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