one CDkey, two XP disks

[NosBoost300]

haha, nope... i get all the updates i want just fine

both my XP and Vista are fully updatable

 

[KSoD]

Fine, I'll just leave this to you guys and your theories.

IT is not a theory. What they say is right. Read your EULA sometime and you would know this to be true Peter.

XP can only have 1 machine activated and online at any time. While if you get rid of that machine you can use the serial on another machine. Just as long as you dont update the first anymore. this is the way it has been since WGA was introduced.

You say that you have updated all your PC's but i bet you dont do it all at the same time. I bet you also had to call on at least 1 or more of those activations.

So what you are doing is technically illegal and not what we want to encourage here. There should only be 1 activated serial per copy of Windows. This is how it has ALWAYS been.

NodBoost what you describe is how many times you can activate a specific serial. OEM can be activated 3 times for XP and 1 time for Vista. Retails is 2 for both XP and Vista. TchNet/MSDN is 10 times each for XP and Vista.

Now onto the OP question. Try using RockXP. There is also another answer in this thread which has the same question.

http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/changing-product-key-166805/

 

[NosBoost300]

lol nobody ever reads End User License Agreements (or whatever it was)... lol, i just click Next! haha

but i get what ur saying about my post

 

[KSoD]

Yes i know everyone jsut clicks by the EULA. But i have read them for both XP and Vista. This is the terms you agree to and by not following them you are punishable by law.

 

[Peter.Cort]

i have the same xp pro key running 3 computers......... and have updated all 3 fine.....

the quick fix is to activate by phone, and either go through it with the robot lady or a support person, and once you get it done just say you've done some hardware changes and have changed your mobo and you would have to do a reinstall.

 

[peterhuang913]

i have the same xp pro key running 3 computers......... and have updated all 3 fine.....

the quick fix is to activate by phone, and either go through it with the robot lady or a support person, and once you get it done just say you've done some hardware changes and have changed your mobo and you would have to do a reinstall.

No, no, no. We all know you can do that. But Makaveli213 here is talking about legitimacy, so lets just keep secrets to ourselves.

 

[Peter.Cort]

oh... of course it isn't legit.. but why should we have to pay for a POS os just to run it on more then one computer.... i would just install linux if i wasn't able to do what i did with xp..

 

[KSoD]

oh... of course it isn't legit.. but why should we have to pay for a POS os just to run it on more then one computer.... i would just install linux if i wasn't able to do what i did with xp..

honestly if you think it is a POS OS that is you opinion and you are entitled to it. But we do not promote warez.

Why should you have to pay for it? Cause that is how the license agreement works. That is how to stay legit. That is how to stay legal. No one said you had to use it. Linux can do almost everything XP can. Just have to learn to do it just like you did in XP.

 

[EricB]

try to activate it. it shouldn't let you. at the bottom of the screen where you have to call the number there will be a change product key button. change it to original key. it will recognize your hardware and let everything through.

if my early day of computer fixing this is what I use to always do to give people their legit machine back when their computer serial wouldn't work with my disc

 

[forrestcupp]

Come on guys! Read the original post. Most of these arguments have nothing to do with it and you should start a new thread to argue these things out.

To the OP. Your problem is that you had a school OEM disk and CD-key, and the disk you borrowed from your friend is most likely a retail XP disk. You can't use and OEM CD-key with a retail disk and that is why it isn't working.

You can attempt to use your friend's key and it may or may not work, but it will be illegal. Or you can try to obtain another OEM disk or find an iso torrent, and use your own key that way. That is the legal way to do it.