this may be a dumb question but, i'm curious-- my pc came with XP MCE 2005, it's a compaq, i have made an OEM XP MCE 2005 install disc with the proper oembios files and other files to change it from retail to OEM, and it works and activates just fine, there are no problems the problem is that i never use media center and it does not work after sp3 anyway (here on my machine) no matter what i try to do, and this particular edition takes way too long to update from a clean install because it is next to impossible to get sp3 to slipstream completely correct, and to do it takes more work than i care for i want to make a XP Pro SP3 install disc, but i'm curious if just replace the oembios files with the correct ones for my machine (and the other files it takes to change from VL to OEM) if it will still activate and be genuine just like my MCE install disc???? or will i have to use another method??? i just never could find any real answer to this...
so, will i need to use the slp key that is in my bios that is a MCE key in my WINNT.SIF, or something else? can you explain why exactly this process will work without a hitch? are there multiple keys that are in the bios, such as keys for any version that would come on any compaq with xp installed oem? will just changing to the proper oembios files on the disc work for any edition of xp then regardless of what came from the oem???? really curious why it will work this simple, since you say it will
There are no keys in the bios. The OEMBIOS files match a simple text string in the Bios/DMI. The keys for pro,mce and home are different. They can be found in the oembios changer tool. The oembios files are not edition specific (as a rule)..just the serial keys in the winnt.sif. example is I can take any manufacturer board, add the SLP string for Hewlett-Packard and activate with HP oembios/serial key..Or I can add multiple slp strings in a bios or SLP and activate with different oembios.serial sets. acer,dell,hp,gigabyte,etc....on the same board..
so basically i can use any oem slp key (corresponding to the edition used), as long as i use the correct oembios files? or do i need to use the same manufacturer slp (this case compaq) for the edition that i'm using? sorry 911, just trying to wrap my head around it all. also, how can i find the keys in the oembios changer tool?
There is a text file in the changer tool. it has the keys and the corresponding OEM. the difference between a MCE install and XP pro is a serial key..you can even use the same disc, but I wouldnt recommend it.. Use the HP oembios set. You can get the CRC from the oembios.exe tool..