Takuro Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have a Sony Vaio RS 620g. It came with an OEM version of Windows that was bundled with a ton of Sony's own software. My HD came with a 6gb partition that contained the Windows installation files and Sony installers as a quick way to reinstall everything to a factory state if anything should go wrong. I've deleted this partition and used it to install MCE 2005. Now my main windows installation on the other 154gb on my HD got F.U.B.A.R.'d. In an attempt to clean out the registry of all Symantec keys so I could reinstall Systemworks, I must have deleted something crucial. It was no longer detecting my computer's built-in memory card readers, and any time I used a program that displayed the computer's drives, it'd lock up and freeze. I tried using System Recovery, but upon reboot, I got a B.S.O.D. with the error 0x0000007b. So I borrowed my friend's legitimate XP Home Edition Upgrade disc to do a basic repair of XP. During the repair, for whatever reason, XP System Recovery popped up and said the computer had been "successfully restored." I closed out of this, and the installer resumed. Upon reboot, it asked for the serial #. My legitimate OEM serial (from the back of my PC tower) won't work with the Retail XP disc that I used to repair my windows installation. In addition, when I try to activate via telephone, it doesn't generate any number to read to tech support. So now I need some advice as to what I should do. If I purchase Sony's Recovery CDs (which have the OEM XP that I need), it doesn't have a repair feature. It'll whipe the entire disc and install XP and all factory-installed software. Another idea is expanding my MCE 2005 partition to take up the entire HD and simply transferring all programs and settings from the rest of the partition (which holds the main XP installation.) I wouldn't know how to do this though without deleting everything in the old XP partition. I know Partition Magic has an option to put all the contents of an old partition into a folder within a newly merged partition, but then how would I use this with a program like Alohabob to restore all my settings, documents, and apps? Any advice is appreciated! - Takuro Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/19261-used-retail-disc-to-fix-install-oem-serial-not-working/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuhkaX Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 You can buy an OEM copy of XP Home from Newegg. That way you can use your OEM Key. Or take a look on the web to see if you can buy just the OEM disk, being that you already have a key. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/19261-used-retail-disc-to-fix-install-oem-serial-not-working/#findComment-126288 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 you can also call Microsoft to ask them directly ... just give them your serial, then they will tell yo what to do exactly ... you can also download directly a new copy of windows ... i don't think it'll be illegal ... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/19261-used-retail-disc-to-fix-install-oem-serial-not-working/#findComment-126455 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takuro Posted June 7, 2006 Author Share Posted June 7, 2006 They said that my O.E.M. serial will never work with the current installation, which became a retail installation after I used the XP disc to repair it. They suggested that I buy that set of Vaio recovery discs, use it to repair the installation again, and I should have an O.E.M. installation once again. For $18, it isn't too costly to get those discs. But I can't afford to be locked out for a week or so while the discs ship. I might have to force the winlogon.exe file to "work" for me. Hey I'm trying to keep this legal. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/19261-used-retail-disc-to-fix-install-oem-serial-not-working/#findComment-126489 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takuro Posted June 7, 2006 Author Share Posted June 7, 2006 Ok I found a legal solution. A simple .INI file on the XP Home Edition setup disc determines where the disc acts as an Upgrade, Retail, or OEM version disc. Another section of the file determines whether it accepts an Upgrade, Retail, or OEM serial. Since Retail discs allow for repair (and OEM discs only allow fresh installs), I can make a hybrid disc that acts as a Retail CD but accepts OEM serials. I'll save myself $18, and besides: as I said before, the OEM discs only allow for fresh installs. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/19261-used-retail-disc-to-fix-install-oem-serial-not-working/#findComment-126522 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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