XP Home versions

[BJMckay]

Hello, i have recently aquired a IBM 300PL desktop with XP home on it, and even tho it is old, it has a 667mhz pentium III 256mb ram and runs pretty well, at least for a while then it all went bad, had a virus on it, i identified it as win32netsky.worm and several other trojans, which slowed it down and eventually BSOD, i decided to do clean install, start from scratch as they say;)

Now it had windows home edition on it, i extracted the product key before i re-installed, as the sticker is missing(there is a glue mark on case where it was).

Right, i got hold of an win xp home OEM install disk, but the product key is invalid according to windows installer, but with out the sticker, i am guessing it is another version of XP home edition.

Can someone tell me how many versions there are of WINDOWS XP HOME ??

Thanks

[Mt.Dew]

Here are some links for ALL windows XP discs:

SP0: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=226

SP1: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=283

SP1a: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=312

SP2: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=342

Another great page is: http://wiki.djlizard.net/Product_IDs

[BJMckay]

Thanks, i'll work through that material and see if i can find my OS.

Thanks again

[Ponch]

IBM 300PL desktop with XP home on it,... it has a 667mhz pentium III

... the sticker is missing(there is a glue mark on case where it was).

The Win98 key wouldn't have helped much anyway.

[vinodh]

Searching Google for your Pc's info reveals that it should have been released with Windows NT 4.0. This PC seems to have been made before XP was released. It could also mean that the version of XP Home that was loaded was not OEM, but a retail version.

[DeadDude]

You also need to know that a key from XP Home will NOT work on XP Home SP1.

SP1 keys don't work on SP2; nor do SP2 keys work on SP1.

Yer key has to match the version (SP1, SP2, no SP; retail, oem)

Did you back up anything from your previous Windows install? Not data files, but like the system32 folder (it is a long shot, but one of those files may have a revision or date to help figure out what version you had)

I run into this problem all the time... client has XP Home (or Pro) and has lost their CD. They borrow someone else's CD to reinstall with... their key doesn't work.

SOLUTION:

Go through all the prompts during the install. When asked for key, call microsoft (use the number the activation wizard gives... don't know it off-hand). If someone knows the phone number for activation, then you'll be all set. When you do call ms, tell them you bought the machine used with XP installed. You had the machine previously booted up and online; you've updated the OS, passing every genuine test. A virus took down the OS, and you are reinstalling from the CD the machine came with. Tell them you pulled the key out with a tool like RockXP you got from a tech at work.

I do not know how much of what I said above isn't actually what happened, but I call ms about once a month for a client with a similar story (the actual scenario is extremely similar). You have to watch your wording and attitude when you talk to a real person at ms. If they suspect at all that it is an illegal install, or that you may be an actual pirate, they will tell you to purchase a new copy. You get ONE shot at this phone call. ONE. Call again, and you could be blacklisted (not sure about this, but it is a good rule nonetheless).

Good luck. This is one reason people pay me $75 to reinstall XP from their cds.

[Ponch]

The post above is full of bad advise and false statement. BJMckay, ignore that post. Let's say your install is legit, and the key is not in use on an other machine anymore, you need the CD that was sold with it or equivallent, probably a Win XP Home retail CD. Service packs never made a difference, unless for dodgy keys.

[BJMckay]

Thanks Ponch, yeah, his advice seemed a bit dodgy, and i'm not gonna risk it.

The machine was a friends, and he bought a dell package, so i took his old 300pl off his hands, i like these old machiones, they run very well with Xp and even Vista with the right tweaks, but i was little p***ed when i saw the windows genuine sticker was missin, it has the old windows NT 4.0 sticker on the rear.

My friend who previously ownded this machine is not so putah savvy, and doesn't know if the OS is genuine or illegal, so i face loosen this OS, but hey, it was a gift horse, so i might go get Vista home premium and pop it on this, and give Xp home a miss.

Thanks for replys.

[nmX.Memnoch]

You also need to know that a key from XP Home will NOT work on XP Home SP1.

SP1 keys don't work on SP2; nor do SP2 keys work on SP1.

Yer key has to match the version (SP1, SP2, no SP; retail, oem)

This is completely WRONG. The key only has to match whether or not the media is OEM, Retail or Volume (sometimes called "Corporate"). The service pack level of the media does not matter. If it did what would be the point of having the option to slipstream the service pack into the source?