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It launches the activation - my bad, it's msoobe.exe - it's been a while since I did that. If you haven't activated you just need to launch activation and select telephone activation to be able to change the key. If you have activated you need to change the registry or do a repair install.
Edit, it is quite easy to create the appropriate type of disk - and quite legal if you have a genuine COA. read here
I can't get an installation ID from my product key. Is this because I used a different installation CD? There are quite a few different ones. I've tried a few other methods that haven't worked.
Have you actually got a real licence for XP? If so, what type is it?
Its an OEM for DELL computers with SP2. It doesn't matter if my computer isn't a DELL. I'm planning to backup and then do a repair installation from this disk.
Err no, you haven't got a licence to upgrade the 2k machine since the 2k machine is not a Dell. OEM licences are only good for the machine that they were supplied with.
Have you bought an upgrade licence for the 2k machine?
The seller said it would work. I still feel that it will.
I was looking back at the messages and there is quite a few clues about the IDE controller driver problem that no one put together. I said I had a controller card in the first post. Then there was the FLTMGR.SYS message. Then I said the message is different when I moved the IDE cables to the MB. Then I said I was getting some files corrupted. Still noone said anything and I identified the problem myself.
There has been a few mi****s including memory, W2000 corrupt, spyware, XP firewall.
Some useful advice included uninstalling system protection and anti-virus before installing and using F8 to get the blue screen.
The seller sold a pup. You didn't buy an upgrade licence. You bought Dell media only, you can't buy a dell COA legally without buying a dell machine.
Go and get an xp upgrade disk from a reputable retailer.. and you will need XP Pro upgrade to upgrade from 2k.
Its legal now in Germany to sell OEM software. If you live in another country you can have it sent from Germany.
Do you know how to do a repair installation?
It might be necessary to downgrade to SP2. Could I install SP2 then SP3 then uninstall SP3? SP3 is installed at the moment without an uninstallation ability.
It is legal to sell OEM software with the appropriate hardware not just in Germany but everywhere.
You bought a dell recovery disk. Under the terms of the licence you have not bought anything else. You certainly haven't bought a licence.
You need xp pro to upgrade 2k and the legal (and cheapest) way is for you to buy an upgrade disk. If you are a student you can buy the academic upgrade cheaper than the standard one. Amazon are about the cheapest.
Wikipedia says that OEM software can be sold alone from Germany.
The disk is a full license that doesn't require W2000. The fact that I upgraded from W2000 is irrelevant legally.
I read somewhere that I could boot from my disk and do a repair installation and then I would have SP2. I'll do that then get my product key sorted then upgrade to SP3 and any further updates.
Either way, you have a Dell CD, which is made for Dells, it has Dell drivers and it is OEM so it doesn't do upgrades anyway. OEM disks are for clean installs only.
Some people have installed from a Dell CD on other computers and got the product key entered. I might try a fresh installation just to test it.
If I buy a OEM product that isn't for a particular manufacturer then its key should work? I must have installed from the retail product CD or I wouldn't have had the option to upgrade.
OEM cds do not allow upgrade from previous operating system installations. If you use an oem key on a retail cd, it will not work.
It looks like I'll have to get the retail version.
Out of interest, how much did you pay for this German version?
About £44. Thats much less than £95 that can be paid online to Microsoft.
True, but how many hours have you invested in this "cheap" version?
The biggest problem you have is insisting on upgrading rather than doing a clean install.
Reinstalling all my software and getting all the settings done would have been far more work. I would still have had the big problem with the IDE controller driver. The problem with system protection programs might have happened as well.