Bezalel

I think it is legit. If I remember correctly MS allows you to use an upgrade as long as you have a valid license (including trial licenses) for a previous or the same version.

I've purchased these for users that didn't want to go through a reinstall. Since you are planning to reinstall anyway I'd suggest buying an OEM copy and editing the setupp.ini file if needed.

I 'm not trying to join a domain, I just want to stay in a domain.

Can I use a Home Premium Upgrade to install over Windows XP MCE that is a domain member and still retain domain membership?

Change your AU settings to prompt you to install instead of installing automatically. When propmpted choose a custom install and deselect the Service Pack and tell it never to install it, then you can change your AU settings back to automatic install.

You can order media directly from MS. I think it must be within 60 days of activation.

The only EULA that allows you to install an additional copy on a portable computer is the Retail (not OEM) license for productivity software. OS licences have always been 1 per computer.

I only got the x86 Business Upgrade DVD (LRMCFRE_EN_DVD) and I'm in the USA. The license chart included with the Janurary kit doesn't mention what CPU it is for.

Run the program again while regmon is running so you know what keys it messes with. You might be able to just delete the keys it changes and windows will use the default values. Post what keys are being messed with and hopefully someone will know if it safe to just delete that key. There is also a posibilty that the program you used contains some malware. What program did you use?

It sounds like your missing one (or more) of the tag files. You should have the following tag files in the root of your CD: WIN51 WIN51IP WIN51IP.SP2

Since you already have a working CD for Dell systems, just use that as the source for your Compaq and IBM CDs. Just replace the Dell OEMBIOS files with the Compaq or IBM files. If you don't have a working installation you can get the files from my OEMBIOS Repository

The player needs to set the region before it can play region coded DVDs. I beleive that almost all players will set the initial region without asking the user. Subsequent changes will ask the user and the final change will provide an additional warning.

That is great news. So does x64 have it's own set of oembios files or do they use the same ones as XP x86 as well? Anybody have a repository for other oembios files? I want to run some tests but I have none of the oembios sets from any of the oter systems besides x86 XP. x64 uses the same files as x86. Which is actually quite strange The orginal Windows XP Professional X64 COA OEM disc holds 3 files which exactly match the Server 2003 COA/Retail set Are you refering to the x64 CD or the IA64 (Itanium) CD? Actually for a Retail or MnP OEM CD (x86 or x64) it doesn't matter what files are used, any failure would just require activation. For IA64 it also doesn't matter because activation isn't needed (or so I've been told).

That is great news. So does x64 have it's own set of oembios files or do they use the same ones as XP x86 as well? Anybody have a repository for other oembios files? I want to run some tests but I have none of the oembios sets from any of the oter systems besides x86 XP. x64 uses the same files as x86.

Make a fully unattended setup with 1 automatic login and run SysPrep from GuiRunOnce.

This might work: On Error Resume Next For I = 0 To 9999 If WshShell.RegRead ("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) & "\Afterburner") = "1" then WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) & "\Works", "1", "REG_SZ" End If Next If you run RegMon you will see that this is not efficiant but it looks like it should work. I don't care about the efficiency too much. I am using this reg key I tested this script Didn't work for me and I also did a regmon and I don't see any activity in this location:HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318} Oops I forgot this line: Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") It should be the first line

This might work: On Error Resume Next For I = 0 To 9999 If WshShell.RegRead ("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) & "\Afterburner") = "1" then WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) & "\Works", "1", "REG_SZ" End If Next If you run RegMon you will see that this is not efficiant but it looks like it should work.

The reason I put it there is because RegRead will raise an error if the value I'm looking for doesn't exist and I want to ignore these errors.

I'm not sure if the syntax is correct but this should get you started. On Error Resume Next Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") On Error GoTo NoMoreKeys For I = 0 To 9999 WshShell.RegRead "HKLM\...\" & Trim(Format(I+1,"0000")) & "\" Next NoMoreKeys: On Error Resume Next For I = I To 1 Step -1 If WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\...\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) "\...")="Value" WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\...\" & Trim(Format(I,"0000")) "\...", "Value", "Type" End If Next

Does this do a complete uninstall? Older versions would just get your computer to a state where you could safely reinstall the program. I remember having to use the removal tool to remove broken installations and then reinstall and uninstall to clean the system.

I think this is more relevent:

I've written instuctions for Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation and setup an OEMBIOS Repository. You will need to compress the files with makecab and find a SLP Key.

MGADiag.exe should tell you what type of license you have.

Product does not appear to be activated; Activation Wizard appears.I have installed OEM Windows XP Professional on a new virtual machine with "SMBIOS.reflectHost = TRUE", but am still prompted for activation. This method is not gauranteed. The only information transferred from the host is the System Manufacturer and the System Model. What is the CRC32 hash of your oembios.cat file?

You can make a script that the teacher can run that does the following. Changes the password to a pseudorandom string For each machine Verifies that noone is logged on at the target pc Sets the autologin registry settings for a single login Reboots the PCPauses for 300 seconds Changes the password to a pseudorandom string