How can I identify what type a Licence Key is?

[army20]

Intresting conversations heres ... started by how to identify a product key

[Yzöwl]

When you've figured out how to identify each licence (<= Note correct spelling) type, dont forget to remove access to all cd floppy usb etc. on every pc!

[Shotgun]

@lvlolvlo: As I mentioned, I'm going to change the setupp.ini in the i386 folder so that I can install the retail version with 1 cd, another for the OEM and another for the VLK.

The funny thing I noticed today is that the previous admin got VLK for UPGRADE versions, NOT the full XP Pro install. That's really another headache to cope with!

That's why I had to prepare an unattended CD for the VLK, since the VLK CDs I got (original from MS) are for upgrading to XP. I tried two (VLK) already with the UCDs I prepared and they chugged along without a hitch. I also used nLite to remove all traces of games, messenger and netmeeting. To fully restore everything with the keys they SHOULD have, I had to use some "unorthodox methods" <aheemmm.. > to identify/change some of the keys as one user recommended...

The sad thing is no matter how much I would like to close access to floppys and usbs, I can't since these PCs are for a library student center and they MUST have access to floppy, usb drives and CD writers there. Of course, BOOTING from floppy and CD is restricted by BIOS settings, but any clever student can download a BIOS pwd cracker and change it anytime. That's why these PCs do not have backups.

In the past (before I got here) there have been very few incidents where a "smartie" did something damaging, but since those computers are isolated from the rest of the network by a firewall, they only affect those specific PCs. Most of them are Pentium 333 and 900 Mhz, so they are somewhat expendable in the eyes of the administration. I consider them my honeypots, since the "kiddies" who think they're not going to get caugth, in fact, get caught very easily since they have to use personal logins and the area has 4 cameras recording 24 hours x 7 days a week. The guy who DID trash the PCs tried to let loose a worm on the network "for the fun of it" and completely forgot that his name was registered with the login account and the cameras were recording his every move. It was just a matter of checking the recording to see what happened when the next day everyone protested about the PCs not working. <GOTCHA!>

In the upcoming year I'm going to migrate to a 2003 Server, so that I can implement software control policies. That way, no matter what the students can get thru Internet, they will not be able to run it on the library computers.