[olspookishmagus]

Greetings once more.

Here's some thoughts I had that came as a result of part of some work I get to do from time to time. Friends, co-workers and other people's that need these tasks done by someone who does that a lot of time, often assign me to make a clean-format of their Windows XP. They never bring the Windows CD's that came with their PC's and some times they claim they were never given such a CD.

Therefore I have to face the trouble of having, most of the times, after the installation to apply the Security Pack 2 (SP2) to these PC's. Sometimes the CD's keys work fine with the installation of Windows XP with SP2 but sometimes they won't. The CD key is retrieved from the relevant sticker on the PC case. Often contacting the local offices of Microsoft on ordering Windows XP CD's with SP2 or requesting a Windows XP SP2 CD key comes to nothing but regrets on their inability to help me save about 45 minutes on each Windows XP installation I wondered:

Is there some sort of utility (or other method) that using the CD Key found on the sticker on the PC's case to determine whether it's a Windows XP SP2 key or not?

And here's how this will save me some of those 45 minutes time. On the unlikely event that the CD key is SP2 then I will not have to apply the SP2 and therefore get 45 minutes of free time.

Thanks in advance for all those who will answer.

Edited by olspookishmagus, 19 July 2007 - 03:11 PM.

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Any valid key should work with any XP flavour that the key is made for.

That is to say, a key stuck on the side of a computer case with XP Home printed on it will work with any XP Home CD regardless of what service pack it is. Likewise, any sticker on the side of a case with XP Professional printed on it will work with any XP Pro CD regardless of service pack. XP Home keys cannot be used on XP Pro CDs and vice-versa.

The only issues are volume licence keys issued to system manufacturers like Dell, HP, etc. These will not be accepted by setup routines, they will not activate over the internet or telephone and they will not be stuck on the side of computer cases either.

The only thing that should prevent SP2 from installing is the product key used, SP2 will not install on Windows XP where a crack key has been used. Aside from that and the issues I've already outlined, there shouldn't be any problems with any product keys on the side of computer cases as they are all genuine.

[Neil Jones]

Any valid key should work with any XP flavour that the key is made for.

That is to say, a key stuck on the side of a computer case with XP Home printed on it will work with any XP Home CD regardless of what service pack it is. Likewise, any sticker on the side of a case with XP Professional printed on it will work with any XP Pro CD regardless of service pack. XP Home keys cannot be used on XP Pro CDs and vice-versa.

The only issues are volume licence keys issued to system manufacturers like Dell, HP, etc. These will not be accepted by setup routines, they will not activate over the internet or telephone and they will not be stuck on the side of computer cases either.

The only thing that should prevent SP2 from installing is the product key used, SP2 will not install on Windows XP where a crack key has been used. Aside from that and the issues I've already outlined, there shouldn't be any problems with any product keys on the side of computer cases as they are all genuine.

[olspookishmagus]

I insist that when you try to install Windows XP with SP2 you cannot use older versions of CD Keys but only CD Keys made for SP2. What's odd is that if you install Windows XP with SP1 you can use these CD Keys and after that you have to apply the Service Pack 2, with no troubles, except of course your loss of precious time.

[Neil Jones]

I insist that when you try to install Windows XP with SP2 you cannot use older versions of CD Keys but only CD Keys made for SP2.

With all due respect, I have never seen any XP key that is Service Pack 2 only. And I have used countless CD keys, some of which date back to the early days of XP, on an SP2 CD, no problems. Likewise, I have used brand new SP2 keys with CDs that have no Service Packs. I have never had any problems in three years.

While I acknowledge that there may be one-off occasions, I can honestly say I've never seen one. A valid XP key is a valid XP key regardless of the service pack CD that you use. A genuine CD with a genuine code that matches will always work. That is, OEM keys work only on OEM CDs. I can only assume you're using a CD that's been wrongly labelled.

Edited by Neil Jones, 20 July 2007 - 03:00 PM.