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Thread: XP recovery disc question

  1. #1
    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    XP recovery disc question

    I have a sony vaio, i created some recovery discs but my disc drive plays up when trying to read DVDs, so i was trying to use an old XP Pro + SP2 setup CD i have.

    When the product key page came up i typed in the code on the windows sticker on the bottom of the laptop but it said it was invalid?

    Can anyone explain? What am i supposed to do about the product key?

  2. #2
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    The windows sticker key only applies to the version of windows that came installed on the laptop.

    To use your old XP pro CD you need to use the key that came with that, not the laptop's one. (OEM distros have different keys to retail versions etc.)

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    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    Any way i can convert my sticker key to one that works on this XP pro disc?

    I mean, what does it matter, they are both XP pro

    Otherwise i'm just out of luck, i can't boot into the recovery DVDs because of the lousy drive, so i'm left with a dead laptop

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    The King of Vague Steve B's Avatar
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    could you make a copy of the recovery discs to CD?

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Well they're not the same version - one is retail and one is OEM, that's quite a big difference in MS's eyes.

    What happened to the key that came with your retail CD?

    In anycase, you could try ringing MS to see if they will provide you with a new product key for your retail CD - you'd have to explain the cicumstances probably.

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    Studmuffin Flibb's Avatar
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    Crappy solution might be to take the laptop drive out, shove it in a desktop (you need the adapter cable), and copy the repair dvd contents to it. I think you can then install from that

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Guessing that the retail key is being used on another system and the key on the laptop is an OEM key.

    Any friends or family with an OEM CD? you can make as many copies of the CD as you like, it's the number you pay for. So although the CD says "Do not make illegal copies of this disk" on the top, you aren't making an illegal copy as your license if for the number etc.

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    Senior Member charleski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcos
    Any way i can convert my sticker key to one that works on this XP pro disc?
    There's a way you might be able to convert the disc so it'll work with your key.
    Link
    I've never tried this, but came across it a while ago. Obviously you'll need to reburn the disc.

    [edit]Not sure if this would work if you're trying to install with an XP Home key.
    Last edited by charleski; 06-09-2006 at 12:25 PM.

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    Senior Member FatalSaviour's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Funkstar
    Guessing that the retail key is being used on another system and the key on the laptop is an OEM key.

    Any friends or family with an OEM CD? you can make as many copies of the CD as you like, it's the number you pay for. So although the CD says "Do not make illegal copies of this disk" on the top, you aren't making an illegal copy as your license if for the number etc.
    Mmmm, what's the legality if I, for example copied either the XP Pro or XP Home OEM discs that I've got lying around and then sent it to the poor guy?
    He's got the key, just wants the disc, so would like to help out if at all possible/necessary.
    Quote Originally Posted by Noni
    What the hell does "WTH" mean


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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    here's where it gets sticky - there's more than a difference between retail and oem keys

    there's a difference between most oem keys too - for example, a dell key won't work with an oem copy bought from scan, a packard bell key won't work on a sony.

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    i didn't realise that directhex

    I'm no lawyer but considdering MS will replace a damaged or lost CD for a nominal handlinf fee i would say you should be OK to make a copy of a disk and give it to someone to use with their own key.

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    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Flibb
    Crappy solution might be to take the laptop drive out, shove it in a desktop (you need the adapter cable), and copy the repair dvd contents to it. I think you can then install from that
    Is that all the recovery discs do? Just copy over a new windows installation straight to the drive?

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    Vrt
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    All you can do from the recovery disks is go to the repair console (where you can chkdsk, fixboot/fixmbr etc), (re)install Windows completely, or on the newer versions of the disks (SP1) there's a repair Windows option where it just builds it over the top but keeps your settings (I think).

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    Studmuffin Flibb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcos
    Is that all the recovery discs do? Just copy over a new windows installation straight to the drive?
    No but its a last resort for installing XP on a machine with an arsed cd/dvd drive. Cant guarantee it will work but I have used in on an old toshiba laptop. Basically what I did was copy the cd to the HD, then ran the installer from there.

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    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    Ok i miraculously managed to get one of the recovery discs to work, took about 4 or 5 times longer than usual to recover the system, the dvd drive can barely read dvds

    thanks for the help everyone but i guess i'll just stick to the recovery discs since using any other xp disc is hassle

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