Lost the Acer XP disc, can I use a retail XP disc instead?

[Cuervo]

A friend has problems with her Acer and she can’t find the XP CD if she even had one and it doesn’t have a recovery partition on it.
The PC has the COA sticker with the product ID and I have a retail XP Home CD so I’m wondering if I can use those two together?
I don’t want to experiment because if it doesn’t work she’ll be left with no O/S which is worse then her current situation.

My doubt is that OEM versions often don’t use install keys as they are BIOS locked so I’m not clear how activation will work using the OEM key with a retail CD on the original system.

Just to make it clear that she has the license and product key so she’s not trying anything pirate related.

[aidanjt]

You can try, but I don't know if the retail discs will accept OEM keys. If it does, there shouldn't be a problem with activation.

[Cuervo]

You can try, but I don't know if the retail discs will accept OEM keys. If it does, there shouldn't be a problem with activation.

I can always test it out by installing it as a VM to see if it will accept the key but obviously without attempting activation.

I can also get hold of a non manufacturer specific OEM CD from the system I built for my Nephew and it seems more likely that the Acer key will work with that. I have a retail SP3 disc so I’d prefer to use that to reduce the time needed to patch it.

[aidanjt]

Yeah, the generic OEM disc should work for sure. Good luck, anyway.

[Cuervo]

I tried the SP3 retail disc and it rejected the key. I’ll have to borrow the OEM disc from my nephew and see how that goes.

[12GaugeShotty]

Yeah, OEM and retail keys are different. They will never work together.

[GlasgowGuy]

I doubt it will work. Most OEM CDs are OEM-SLP, which basically means that the product key on the PC/laptop is not the key used to install the software. A 'master' key is used, which only works if certain files on the Windows CD match BIOS data (no sharing OEM CDs with friends to use on home-built machines!).

If the key on the box is old enough, you might get away with using it on your nephew's generic OEM disc, but it would need activated, possibly by phone, but internet might work.

More recent copies of Windows have the key on the box blocked from most online activations, but if you just tell them you reinstalled Windows on the same PC but something went wrong, they'll usually give you the activation code.

[Cuervo]

I doubt it will work. Most OEM CDs are OEM-SLP, which basically means that the product key on the PC/laptop is not the key used to install the software. A 'master' key is used, which only works if certain files on the Windows CD match BIOS data (no sharing OEM CDs with friends to use on home-built machines!).

Thanks that’s what I feared and I appreciate the explanation as that clarifies it for me.

I was able to use a Dell OEM disc from my Vostro laptop with my parents Vostro desktop so I guess each OEM disc is linked to a model range in some cases rather than an individual model. I was surprised that the laptop disc worked with the desktop though.

[12GaugeShotty]

Thanks that’s what I feared and I appreciate the explanation as that clarifies it for me.

I was able to use a Dell OEM disc from my Vostro laptop with my parents Vostro desktop so I guess each OEM disc is linked to a model range in some cases rather than an individual model. I was surprised that the laptop disc worked with the desktop though.

The Dell OEM Windows XP CD will install on any Dell without requiring you to enter a license key or activate. It just looks for the Dell BIOS.

[CaptainCrash]

I tried the SP3 retail disc and it rejected the key. I’ll have to borrow the OEM disc from my nephew and see how that goes.

There's one suggestion I found on another forum for turning a retail disc into an OEM version - I haven't tried it myself, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness:

1. Create an ISO of your retail XP installation disc

2. Grab hold of an ISO editing tool (the trial version of UltraISO is good), open the ISO, look for the file setupp.ini in the i386 folder

3. Open setupp.ini, change the last three digits of the product ID from 000 to OEM, save it, save the ISO.

4. Burn the new ISO to a disc, reinstall using the product key on the COA sticker.

As I said, I haven't tried it myself, so no guarantees, and I guess you'd still need to be aware of the possible online activation issues mentioned by GlasgowGuy above. It could be worth a shot if you have a few minutes to spare, although I don't suppose you'd save much time over using a generic original OEM disc and patching it afterwards (on the other hand you could take the opportunity to nLite all the latest post-SP3 hotfixes, drivers etc into the new disc).

[Cuervo]

There's one suggestion I found on another forum for turning a retail disc into an OEM version - I haven't tried it myself, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness:

1. Create an ISO of your retail XP installation disc

etc

Thanks for that. I’ve downloaded an OEM SP3 and will try to see if it accepts the Acer key within a VM. Even if it does it still doesn’t answer the question about activation but there is a way to create an OEM SLP restore disk which I discovered at My Digital Life. They’ve listed an Acer SLP key and I’m reading the instructions to determine how to create the disc. You need the matching OEMBIOS files which they seemed to have posted as well. A little project for me.

The Dell OEM Windows XP CD will install on any Dell without requiring you to enter a license key or activate. It just looks for the Dell BIOS.

That doesn’t seem to always be the case as when I used an XP CD from a Vostro with an XPS it installed and then a few days later it told me it wasn’t a genuine copy of Windows which seems to suggest that there may be different SLP keys for different ranges of Dells. That was only one experience so don’t know if it’s typical.

[Cuervo]

I used the Acer key with the OEM XP disc in a VM and it installed fine. The only way to determine if it activates would be to install on the Acer but if it doesn’t she’s left with no O/S. If I had a spare drive I’d install it on that to see but I don’t. I don’t want to ask to buy a new HDD only to discover that she can’t install the O/S.
I’ve going to look again at creating an SLP CD but the info I have is fragmented so I want to find a proper how to guide.

[CaptainCrash]

I used the Acer key with the OEM XP disc in a VM and it installed fine. The only way to determine if it activates would be to install on the Acer but if it doesn’t she’s left with no O/S. If I had a spare drive I’d install it on that to see but I don’t. I don’t want to ask to buy a new HDD only to discover that she can’t install the O/S.
I’ve going to look again at creating an SLP CD but the info I have is fragmented so I want to find a proper how to guide.

Could you not create an image of the existing installation using Acronis or whatever, then do your clean format/install? If the new installation won't activate (I'd be surprised if it didn't, even if you had to make a phone call), you could just restore the original setup.

In fact, with someone else's PC it's always a good idea to image the OS drive anyway before nuking it, as you can almost guarantee they'll have some life-or-death critical stuff squirreled away in some ridiculous location.

"Are you sure it's OK to format this drive now?"

"Oh yes"

"Are you absolutely sure there's no other data you want saved?"

"Yes, quite sure, go ahead..."

"I mean *really* ... are you completely, utterly, 100% sure, you won't get a second chance...?"

"Yes, I'm not an idiot, get on with it..."

/format c:

"Where are those photographs... ?"

[Cuervo]

Could you not create an image of the existing installation using Acronis or whatever, then do your clean format/install? If the new installation won't activate (I'd be surprised if it didn't, even if you had to make a phone call), you could just restore the original setup.
In fact, with someone else's PC it's always a good idea to image the OS drive anyway before nuking it, as you can almost guarantee they'll have some life-or-death critical stuff squirreled away in some ridiculous location.

I’m not prepared to spend the time to do all that and if they can’t find the data to backup then maybe they’ll learn a lesson the hard way.

I got a text saying that she’s found some more discs so hopefully XP is amongst them. Anyway I learnt that you can make your own SLP discs so not all wasted time.
Thanks for all your help.

[CaptainCrash]

I’m not prepared to spend the time to do all that and if they can’t find the data to backup then maybe they’ll learn a lesson the hard way.

It was just a suggestion and it's no skin off my nose either way, no need to bite my head off.

Hope you get it sorted, anyway.

[12GaugeShotty]

That doesn’t seem to always be the case as when I used an XP CD from a Vostro with an XPS it installed and then a few days later it told me it wasn’t a genuine copy of Windows which seems to suggest that there may be different SLP keys for different ranges of Dells. That was only one experience so don’t know if it’s typical.

I've used the Windows XP OEM CDs on various Dells - Latitude, Dimension, Precision and Optiplex - and they all installed without an issue. Activated and never asked me for a CD key. It's the one with the green label, Windows XP Pro.