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WinXP Serial Numbers/Registration

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by davidg47

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I recently migrated a single workstation and server network to a 4 workstation network with a Win2000 SBS network. I needed to get things up and running quickly, so I used the same copy of WinXP Pro on each of the workstations. Now that the madness of moving the office and setting up the new network and getting all the other software packages up and running, I have purchased the additional licenses for WinXP Pro for the new workstations. Is there a way to update the license/registration for these new workstations without having to completely reinstall the new WinXP Pro copies onto the workstations?

8 replies

by davidg47

Thanks for your advice, but this utility does not actually change the registration numbers and prevent the little pop-up from coming up and saying we have 5-4-3-2-1 days to register this product.

by davidg47

I already tried this... no where on the Microsoft Technical Help pages does it tell me how to change the serial numbers on an installed OS.

by brian.wells

You can use the sysprep utility. It will reset the pc to new and you will need to reset all of your network settings. You will need to locate the files "sysprepcl.exe" and "sysprep.exe" on your windows cd. Place them in a folder called c:/sysprep . At a dos prompt, type "sysprep -nosidgen" and then click reseal. At reboot, it will look like a new install and all your apps will be as you left them before this process. You will be prompted to place you new key in as you would a fresh install.

by brian.wells

I made a couple of errors, one is the file name. It is setupcl.exe not sysprepcl.exe and when at the dos prompt you need to be in the c:\sysprep directory. FYI I have done this probably 100 times by now and it's great. It is especially worthwhile when imaging a machine to be rolled out en mass. I take an image of the syspreped machine before I start the set up process and then after I apply the image to the new machine, I am able to apply the appropriate liscence key and network info as needed.

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