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Options for 'Fixing' A Pirated Copy of Windows
PunkOfLinux writes "My parents are running a pirated copy of windows that my mom received from a teacher at school. My parents want to go legit, and buy a copy of Windows, but they are afraid of deleting everything and having to reinstall all their programs. Seeing as I know you guys will have an answer, I'm going to ask you: What would you do in this situation?"
I would post as anonymous coward...
Call their help support line and you can buy a copy from them. They will tell you how to replace the cd-key, if they can't you can download a cd-key changer from the internet.
You can change your product key.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
and just use this tool
3 b60-bff1-4f03-b06f-d3cbe8f8d9f4/KeyUpdateTool.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/9/c/e9c7
enter in your new key, reboot and you are legit
TweakXP should do that for ya. Buy a new copy and key the serial number you get over the old one. Unless, of course, your parents have a volume license copy right now, and they buy a home version. Then you have to do a repair install.
http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakutility/
tinfoilmedia
Are they losing sleep at night feeling like they're taking food out of the mouths of those in Redmond? Do they think their system will run better? Perhaps they feel it's a sin because technically it's stealing? My advice... don't even bother with it. Buy Vista if and when it's released or wait until you get a new computer.
Yes, it's easy to google for it, provided you already know that the solution relies in a key changer.
Over-under on the number of "install Linux over it" posts: 36.
the no
IF your folks are worried about a reinstall, they're NOT ready to survive a catastropic harddrive crash.
Much less full reload to clear an infection.
Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org
If the dealers are selling the OEM version without any hardware, this would still be an illegal copy. The OEM pricing is set to be lower for computer makers, and is not to be sold without hardware.
However the 290euros is also a bit high. You should be able to buy a 'upgrade' version instead of a 'full' version. They are the same, but one requires the machine to have had a version of Windows installed on it before or the CD to prove you own it. (There are two types of 'retail' versions in other words, and most people only need the upgrade version which is about the same price as the OEM version give or take 10-15 Euro.)
Stay way from people selling OEM copies of any company's software unless they are also keeping to the licensing rules and selling it with a new computer or qualifying hardware. The Windows OEM license used to allow it to be purchased if the end user was buying a new hard drive etc.
If they are just selling the OEM software, with most companies this is illegal and would not help in getting your copy to be legitimate. This is also why OEM software often requires a clean install and will not 'upgrade' as it is not ever to be sold in a circumstance to upgrade anything.
For all the people saying just buy Windows and change the key - there is a good chance this *wont* work. In principle changing the key does work - the trick is getting a legal key for the version installed.
Your parents probably installed a Corporate copy of XP. This doesn't take the same keys as Home so they can't just walk down to Best Buy and get a key that is going to work.
In fact, there are a number of different key types including:
* XP Home
* XP Home OEM
* XP Pro
* XP Pro OEM
* XP Corporate
(and more)
Assuming your parents installed Corporate, they still need to buy a legal copy of Windows, yes, but they won't be able to pop the key in and go on their merry way. They will need to do what is knows an a "In place install". This isn't the cleanest way to do things but will make sure all their files are left intact (all settings including the entire registry are lost). Boot off the new disk:
The first menu is going to ask you to install, go to the recovery console, or quit. Choose install by hitting enter.
The second menu is a license agreement, hit F8.
The third menu is going to show the existing Windows installation, choose to install on top of it. You will be warned about an existing Windows install there and be given the option of deleting the existing %systemroot% folder and continuing.
Choosing this option will not delete anything on the drive other that what is in the windows folder. All of their files will still be available by navigating to the "Documents and Settings" folder.
I know it is a dirty mess but it is the only way to go from one version of Windows to another while still retaining the contents of the hard drive.
I guess that "+5 informative" needs some "-1 overrated" side-salad, huh?
I'm pretty sure the reason it doesn't work is that the version of Windows supplied under the genuine advantage program is different from the version that my customer's nephew installed. I believe it was Windows XP Professional Corporate Edition that was installed, and I'd guess that the CD supplied by Microsoft when she clicked on the "Get Genuine" link was either OEM or retail (it was certainly Windows XP Professional, and was a hologrammed CD).
The way I fixed this was to do a "repair install" of Windows XP. This worked perfectly & retained all the user's settings and documents, although I was pretty nervous about doing it and a number of drivers did require reinstall. Honestly, if you're undertaking this, be prepared to back everything up with a Knoppix CD & a portable hard-drive and to do a format-reinstall if necessary.
Ned.
Wireless network cards - GUARANTEED 100% Linux Compatible!
Now that Windows Update and certain Windows downloads require you to validate your copy of Windows before accessing the services (the Windows Genuine program), people have of course started having troubles with invalid product keys, etc.
To help people sort out their Windows license problems, Microsoft have put online the Windows Genuine Advantage Talkback bulletin board, where Microsoft offers advice for people with license troubles.
An interesting utility that I found mentioned there on the bulletin board is Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool, that shows lots of information about the license / product key of the current Windows installation.
OEM copies can be sold with things like computer mice or ethernet cards
Judging from Microsoft's 'System Builder' documentation, I don't think you even need to bother doing that. Buying and installing an OEM version of Windows onto your PC is perfectly fine and legal. But by doing so, you've now created a 'new PC' in Microsoft's eyes and so you no longer have access to any support from them, as support for OEM software is to be obtained from your system builder (namely, you, in this case). So you're legal but completely on your own. At least this is the way I read it.
There's one small problem I've run into at my job when we sell customers an XP Home license to get them off of Corp: you can't do a repair installation from Windows XP Pro to Home. That's a problem because most of the customers we deal with want to save money and don't want the Pro license, although the Pro license gives us the option to Repair, and therefore keep their files, settings, etc.
Anyone know of a possible way to get around this, other than having to reinstall Windows XP Home from scratch?
... all you have to aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all.
"...how to completely rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation without losing data, and without having to reinstall user software, reformat, or otherwise destructively alter the setup."
j sessionid=STKGFAI0KVUKAQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?article ID=189400897&queryText=nondestructive+
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;
I love all these Pseudo Tech offering advice, it always boggles my mind... 0- Buy a Copy of Windows (whatever version you have installed)or buy a key from M$ 1- Reboot in safe mode 2- Do a search for WPA.* (WPA.DBL, WPA.BAK)They're in C:\windows\system32 3- Delete these file 4- Reboot into normal mode, you will warned that you have blabla time to activate 5- Click to activate, select by phone, select change key (bottom of form) 6- Enter new legit key 7- You are returned to activation screen, click Activate online 8- Do a search and backup the wpa files for future needs 9- Done
End of Line.
Sorry to go on an off-topic rant here, but...
I'm a consultant who helps small business and home users. I can't tell you how many times I have talked to customers who (in the past) have had another tech come along and do a re-install without understanding all of the implications.
There is value in a machine's configuration! The customizations, tweaks, and even icon arrangements people create to make their systems work and lives easier are time-consuming to recreate, and there can be a major loss of productivity if they have to re-do it all from scratch. I'm a professional, and it's not uncommon for it to take me 3-5 hours to do a good job of getting all of the software, utilities, and configuration changes done for a typical business machine. Just because you can rebuild your own gaming rig from scratch in two hours (because you do it once a month) doesn't meant that this is a course of action that makes sense for everyone.
This is why I always recommend *full* backups of the entire system... not just "important" documents. And it's why I do a full re-install as an absolute last resort. I can count the number of re-installs I've been forced into in the last *year* on one hand.
The good news is that if you know what you're doing (unfortunately many techs don't) VERY few problems require a rebuild. It's very possible to clean off even the "worst" infections fairly quickly, with high confidence that everything is gone. I charge a two-hour flat rate for *any* infection cleanup (including kernel rootkits), and that usually works out to my advantage. Hard drives often have only failed in a few sectors... I commonly am able to image the failed drive to a new one, and repair the windows install using a combination of sfc, system restore, misc subsystem fixes, and (in the worst cases) a repair re-install.
The benefit to the user is that they get their machine back *exactly the way it was*, the same day, without a large repair bill. The benefit to me is that the customer is happy and calls me back the next time they have a problem... instead of cursing me the whole time they are trying to rebuild their system the way they had it.
If you are a tech and haven't learned this stuff, you are doing your customers and yourself a disservice.
-R