Reinstall OEM XP but have no disk

sidweyz

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
124
I have 3 different computers I would like to reinstall XP.. I have 1 HP desktop with XP Home, 1 vpr Matrix desktop with XP Home and 1 Toshiba laptop with XP Media Center.

For the laptop - I believe I could still get a disk but it'll cost $40 and prefer not to pay for it but will if I have to.

For the desktops - From what I understand they are 'branded' versions OEM XP home. I did try download a copy of XP OEM and the keys did not take. One desktop is a P4 2.6 and the other is a 2.8 so I'm assuming they are pre-SP1 versions of XP. I read there is a way to modify an ISO of XP to accept different keys but not sure exactly what copy I need. Is there anyway to find out from the key?

I do know there are a couple other options including Ubuntu and a pirated version of XP but I don't not prefer those options.
 
Most times the "brand" doesn't matter as long as it's really OEM. I've used a dell in a HP among other combos for example. Alternatively, you could still use a retail disk and convert the PID to OEM..just google it.
 
Typically, as long as the media is OEM, an OEM key (from the sticker) will take. However, my very own XP OEM disc which I integrated SP3, will not take the OEM key that came with it. Something has changed for Microsoft products. I've also 'heard' that you can no longer activate OEM product keys online anymore, you have to call, which doesn't always work.

For reinstalling branded OEM systems (HP, Dell, etc.) I have recently been using the OEMBIOS method that Joe Average brought to our attention. The easiest method is to run the OEMBIOS extraction script on the PC that you want to reinstall. It will give you 5 files. You copy an XP OEM CD to your hard drive, copy those 5 files into the i386 folder (overwriting when prompted), then reburning the copied folder as a bootable disc. The disc you create basically will become a branded restore disc. For example, if you do this on an HP system, you'll create an HP restore disc that should work on virtually all HP machines that have the same OS from the factory. The operating system will be pre-activated. Note, this disc will only will only be preactivated on systems which it's intended to be on. If you try to install it on another brand PC, it will not be activated and you'll have to enter a valid key.

Code:
' Backup/Get OEMBIOS Files & create a basic windows answer file (winnt.sif)
' WinNT: XP
' Author: 38956
'            This script is based on "Bezalel" scripts on the MSFN Forum
'             ( URL: [url]http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/63258-building-a-pre-activated-cd-from-an-existing-installation/[/url] )
'  21110311.5 - 22:08 Zulu

Dim objFSO, objShell
Dim strXPKey

Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

'//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'// Functions: GetKey(rpk) 
'//
'// Credit where credit is due - I found this script posted by user "Bezalel" on MSFN Forum
'// ( URL: [url]http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/63258-building-a-pre-activated-cd-from-an-existing-installation/[/url] )
'// and used it here to retrieve the windows product key:

strXPKey = objShell.RegRead("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProductName")
If Len(strXPKey) > 0 Then
 Function GetKey(rpk)
  Const rpkOffset=52:i=28
  szPossibleChars="BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
  Do
    dwAccumulator=0 : j=14
    Do
      dwAccumulator=dwAccumulator*256
      dwAccumulator=rpk(j+rpkOffset)+dwAccumulator
      rpk(j+rpkOffset)=(dwAccumulator\24) and 255
      dwAccumulator=dwAccumulator Mod 24
      j=j-1
    Loop While j>=0
    i=i-1 : szProductKey=mid(szPossibleChars,dwAccumulator+1,1)&szProductKey
    if (((29-i) Mod 6)=0) and (i<>-1) then
      i=i-1 : szProductKey="-"&szProductKey
    End If
  Loop While i>=0
  GetKey=szProductKey
 End Function
End If

set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")


    If Not objFSO.FolderExists(".\OEMBIOS") Then
        set objFolderOEMBIOS = objFSO.CreateFolder(".\OEMBIOS")
    End If
    If Not objFSO.FolderExists(".\OEMBIOS\i386") Then
        set objFolderi386 = objFSO.CreateFolder(".\OEMBIOS\i386")
    End If

objShell.Run "cmd /c attrib -s %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT & makecab /D CompressionType=LZX /D CompressionMemory=21 %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT /L .\OEMBIOS\i386 & attrib +s %SystemRoot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT & makecab /D CompressionType=LZX /D CompressionMemory=21 %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.BIN /L .\OEMBIOS\i386 & makecab /D CompressionType=LZX /D CompressionMemory=21 %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.DAT /L .\OEMBIOS\i386 & makecab /D CompressionType=LZX /D CompressionMemory=21 %SystemRoot%\system32\OEMBIOS.SIG /L .\OEMBIOS\i386"

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set winntsif = fso.OpenTextFile(".\OEMBIOS\i386\winnt.sif", 2, True)

  winntsif.WriteLine "[Data]"
  winntsif.WriteLine "MSDosInitiated=0"
  winntsif.WriteLine "UnattendedInstall=Yes"
  winntsif.WriteLine ""
  winntsif.WriteLine "[Unattended]"
  winntsif.WriteLine "WaitForReboot="  & chr(34) & "No" & chr(34)
  winntsif.WriteLine "NoWaitAfterTextMode=1"
  winntsif.WriteLine "NoWaitAfterGUIMode=1"
  winntsif.WriteLine ""
  winntsif.WriteLine "[UserData]"
  winntsif.WriteLine "ProductKey=" & chr(34) & GetKey(objShell.RegRead("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId")) & chr(34)

Copy this into notepad and save it as script.vbs (all files type). Then run it on the PC you want to reinstall.
 
I've used my trusty "Windows XP Home for Dell" disc on many XP Home-based HP/Toshiba/IBM machines without fail. As long as the machine I put it on had a sticker with a valid key for the same edition of Windows, it would work just fine.

But with what I'm reading in the thread, it seems as though something has changed. I've been out of the XP loop for 2 years, so *shrugs*.
 
I tried downloading a Dell XP disk but it was missing a file so it wouldn't install. I'm in the process of finding another copy.

Also, not exactly understanding this Average Joe process. Would I need XP already installed? One computer needed a new HDD and the other had 7 and currently has Ubuntu.
 
I have 3 different computers I would like to reinstall XP.. I have 1 HP desktop with XP Home, 1 vpr Matrix desktop with XP Home and 1 Toshiba laptop with XP Media Center.

For the laptop - I believe I could still get a disk but it'll cost $40 and prefer not to pay for it but will if I have to.

For the desktops - From what I understand they are 'branded' versions OEM XP home. I did try download a copy of XP OEM and the keys did not take. One desktop is a P4 2.6 and the other is a 2.8 so I'm assuming they are pre-SP1 versions of XP. I read there is a way to modify an ISO of XP to accept different keys but not sure exactly what copy I need. Is there anyway to find out from the key?

I do know there are a couple other options including Ubuntu and a pirated version of XP but I don't not prefer those options.


As long as you can log-in to the desktop and use the Windows Product Key Update Tool ==> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/genuine/product-key

You can actually install Windows XP Professional (Retail) and then the tool in conjunction with a Windows XP Professional (OEM) product key. It can also be done in reverse OEM install and Retail PK helped by the tool.
 
As long as you can log-in to the desktop and use the Windows Product Key Update Tool ==> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/genuine/product-key

You can actually install Windows XP Professional (Retail) and then the tool in conjunction with a Windows XP Professional (OEM) product key. It can also be done in reverse OEM install and Retail PK helped by the tool.

I recently learned of this tool provided by Microsoft themselves and it works great. Windows XP retail will let you install the OS without a key during installation allowing a 30 day activation period. Any legit key can work after the installation which I did on a laptop (OEM key) I was working on for a friend that did not have a recovery partition (due to a crashed hard drive) and no recovery discs.
 
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