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Generating key for microsoft windows xp

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16 replies

by bishop.dan

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i have a laptop with aspire 1350 make and has been trying to generate the microsoft key and all effort to do this proved abortive.
i have entered the product key given to me by the manufacture which is xxxxxxxxx and it still complains that i have got the wrong key! please forward me with an appropriate key to use so as to log on

Message was edited by: beth.blakely@...

16 replies

by tig2

By removing your key from your original post. Then give Microsoft a ring. Provide your key information and they should be able to get you set up.

Never post your key information to a public board.

by faradhi

I wanted to call attention to this post to the TR powers that be to edit this post to remove the CD key.

by jdclyde

If you did a reload, odds are you didn't use the same verson that the key is good for.

Example, you have a laptop that comes with XPsp1, you can not reload it with a XPsp2 disk and still use the old key.

Reload with the correct disk and your key should work just fine, and if not, MS has ALWAYS straightened out the issues I have had with this.

by ismith

As long as you are loading XP, your key should work whether you load XP, XP-SP1, or XP-SP2. It only makes a difference if you try to load XP-Pro and use an XP-Home license. I have an original release license key that I used with a brand new XP Pro SP2 disk and it worked just fine.

by faradhi

I have several laptops in our enterprise. The Dell CD keys do NOT work with the Volume license disks. Further, the Volume License Keys do not work with the Dell CD's. Additionally, the older laptop CD keys do not work with the newer laptop CD and vice versa.

This is not open to dispute. It is just the way it is. SO I have 4 XP cds I keep at all times. 1 for the older laptops, 1 for the newer laptops, and 1 for our new desktops, one for our older laptops.

by ctos

Thanks for the note of the Belarc Advisor! I too need a program as such and it will come in handy when needing this info for other customers. IT works great, is fast and it is so complete and professional looking in it's report...

by ismith

I am not wrong about using an SP2 CD with an old key. I did it. What may have made a difference is that the old key was from the copy of XP came with my Microsoft FTE souvenir copy of XP Pro. But the SP2 disk was a new one that I bought within the past year or so.

When I bought a new desktop machine, I upgraded it to XP Pro with a newly purchased copy that included SP2. Shortly afterwards, I needed to reformat the hard drive on my laptop and instead of installing XP and then downloading and installing the service pack, I installed from my new disk and used my old key. Maybe the serial numbers that came with those commemerative disks were different somehow, but I doubt it.

by faradhi

You are telling this guy, erroneously, that any OEM key works with any OEM disk from the same manufacturer. I am telling you that that is just not correct.

I have found that the visual clue is the COA. If the COA is Purple (or dark blue or what ever), then the Key will NOT work with a Disk distributed with a computer that has a green and blue COA.

I think they changed the COA's at the same time they started the forcing the activation. I have slept since then so I cannot really remember.

by ismith

Actually, I did not say that any OEM key works with any OEM disk. If your laptop comes with Windows XP Home and you try to use that key with Windows XP Pro, you're out of luck. (That seems to be what you are talking about when you mention blue and green.) However, if you have Windows XP Pro, the key should work with any Windows XP Pro disk.

That may not be true with software from other companies, BUT in my experience it has always been true that as long as your key is for the same Windows version, it will work with any installation disk, even if the disk has service packs included.

There may be cases with other operating systems or applications where the key is tied to a particular CD or DVD, some games come to mind, but Windows XP is not one of those cases.

by jdclyde

if you need to mention them twice and have two sets of CD's for them! ;\ :p

[i]yes, I know what you intended to say, but how it came out is MUCH funnier... :D

by faradhi

All my machines are XP pro. I do not work with XP Home.

I did not say anything about disk. I was talking about the Certificate of Authenticity or COA.These are the stickers on the computers that have the CD keys.

When XP first came out, the OEM COA were blue. Later, sometime around the release of SP2, they changed to the multicolored ones. This was about the time that they started to require activation.

The XP PRO cds released with the the newer computers will NOT work with the older keys and vice versa. I am out of the office until Monday, when I get there I will post a picture of the COA's with the CD's so you can see what I am talking about.

However, all newer keys work with newer disks and the older keys work with the older disks. None of the newer keys work with the older disks.

by jdclyde

no scumbag, we will not give you a stolen key just because you are too cheap to pay for the product you wish to have.

If you want something, pay for it.

by paladin2

If nothing else works try installing SIW (system information something) and it has the license key listed under the 'license' category I think. And not the key with OEM in it, the 25 number key for that's on the tag in my battery compartment.

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