Looking for an OEM XP

Post by **inxsfan92** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:20 am

hi guys

if anyone has a Dell OEM Windows XP Professional SP1 disc, with activation and everything. could they give me a link. i have my own legit serial.

Oh, and Mods if you consider this warez go ahead and close it

Post by **stitch** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:57 am

This is not warez, because you're not asking for any licenses/keys. Thus, I will hunt up my disc and ISO it in a bit.

Post by **inxsfan92** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:01 am

thanks Zimmy

Post by **QuiescentWonder** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:14 pm

How about with SP3? Also, you don't need to enter a serial. As long as your computer is Dell it should be SLP activated without you doing anything.

Post by **Rob Jansen** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:39 pm

OEM disks has keys integrated if you use them on the correct machine it is automatically activated, otherwise you need to get a special key of the sticker of such machine (most versions accept only special key's).

Post by **inxsfan92** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:58 pm

i have a key on the machine

since the computer is from 2003, i assumed it would be for sp1

Post by **Vista Ultimate R2** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:17 pm

Keys aren't specific to an SP version , it will work with any (except the newest Pro ones as the latest discs (SP2c and later) have been updated to accept more keys as they ran out). the disc doesn't need to be Dell either, the Dell discs have a key inside them that makes it pre-activated on Dell machines, but the key on the sticker will work on any brand of PC as long as the disc is OEM and not retail or VLK.

Post by **4tified** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:30 pm

Well, I have a dumb question while we're on the subject...

Are the OEM versions of XP specific to PC manufacturers? For example, do Dell, HP, IBM, etc use separate alogorithms for keys? Can I use an HP SP2 key with a Dell SP2 machine? My first guess is no, but I wanted to be sure since I never tried it.

Post by **inxsfan92** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:45 pm

as far as i know

you can't install a dell xp on an hp machine and vice versa

well without activating you can't

Post by **Rob Jansen** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:50 pm

You can, but you need to the right key (a key from the license from that OEM eg. DELL, HP), and then its you must activate it.

I saw an DELL OEM XP Pro SP1 on a Compaq D510.
The only difference was in the start menu it had a DELL Support button.

No special software is on the disc.

Because you start a Restore with the Restore Disk (containing Windows 95 for Compaq D310, and on there is all Compaq General Software, then it reboots and asks for the XP Disk (i have 150 discs with XP OEM RTM here) then it copyed the i386 folder to the C Drive, then it asks for special software, burn programs and such, and then reboots into a SYSTEM account and installs windows and then its finished).

Post by **Vista Ultimate R2** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:34 pm

The keys stuck on the machines are just generic OEM keys that can be used with any OEM copy of Windows, while the keys embedded in the pre-installed versions and pre-activated are specific to the manufacturer.

Post by **4tified** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:00 pm

Vista Ultimate R2 wrote:The keys stuck on the machines are just generic OEM keys that can be used with any OEM copy of Windows, while the keys embedded in the pre-installed versions and pre-activated are specific to the manufacturer.

Hmmmm... so I get the OEM copies...basically there can be generic OEM versions that are tied to a particular machine. (For example the label GRTMHOEM_EN, which is a Windows XP Home Edition (SP3) OEM, not any paticular manufacturer.) But I'm still a little confused about the pre-installed versions. Aren't they using the very same key from the COA on the outside of the machine? What makes the preinstalled version specific to that manufactured PC it's installed on?

Post by **Vista Ultimate R2** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:08 pm

The pre-installed versions usually contain a "multiple activation key" as the OEM images the same installation to thousands of machines, so they all have the same key, and they are special keys that are already activated when installed with the manufacturer's restore discs on that PC but can't be used on other PCs. That is how the BIOS emulation crack for Vista works, it makes Vista think you have a particular OEM's BIOS and then you can use the pre-activated multiple activation key. The key on the machine is just for if you reinstall using a generic OEM disc (and as proof of licence mainly), it's an unactivated key so could be activated on any PC, but as it's OEM once it's been activated on one you won't be able to activate it again on a different machine, unlike retail keys.

Post by **4tified** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:53 pm

Vista Ultimate R2 wrote:The pre-installed versions usually contain a "multiple activation key" as the OEM images the same installation to thousands of machines, so they all have the same key, and they are special keys that are already activated when installed with the manufacturer's restore discs on that PC but can't be used on other PCs. That is how the BIOS emulation crack for Vista works, it makes Vista think you have a particular OEM's BIOS and then you can use the pre-activated multiple activation key. The key on the machine is just for if you reinstall using a generic OEM disc (and as proof of licence mainly), it's an unactivated key so could be activated on any PC, but as it's OEM once it's been activated on one you won't be able to activate it again on a different machine, unlike retail keys.

Ahh... makes sense. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Post by **QuiescentWonder** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:53 am

There are a few files and the key specific to each OEM. So if you have a Dell OEM disc it has files it it which are specific to Dell. After Windows is installed it checks the information in these files against information that is embedded in the hardware in Dell computers. If this information matches then Windows is activated on that machine without you having to do anything.

All these posts seemed fairly confusing. So I'll say it again, just so you know. You don't need a disc with SP1, you just need a Dell OEM disc, doesn't matter the service pack version. So spring for SP3, it should work. The only time this matters is where, as someone mentioned above, you have XP Pro OEM and the key on the case if for SP2c and the disc you are using is before SP2c then it won't work. Microsoft ran out of XP Pro keys and had to update the service pack and introduce new keys. If you are installing a version of XP Pro that has lower than SP2c and the key on the COA is from SP2c or newer, then Windows won't recognize the key on the case. That shouldn't matter if you have a Dell OEM disc though.

You could use an OEM disc from any manufacturer, or a generic OEM disc, but in that case you would need to actually activate with the key on the COA, this is also the case where having SP2c would apply.

Post by **inxsfan92** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:10 am

with that in mind, an xp sp3 disc would be great

Post by **Rob Jansen** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:56 am

Just tested a Compaq D310 Windows XP Professional RTM disk and a Windows 2000 SP2 disk.

The Windows 2000 SP2 disk fails, saying its not the right manufacture computer.

The XP Disk install, and ask for OEM key and after install its just XP that asks to be activated.
No special software is installed, but there is a min win version on the disk (but not bootable i think).