Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2c Release

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2c Release

Daniel Fleshbourne on 10 August 2007 - 11:31 · 26 comments & 30180 views

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Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2c has released to manufacturing and will be available to system builders in September 2007.

Critical Action Item:
System builders who use imaging must create new Windows XP Professional images with Service Pack 2c when shipping Service Pack 2c product keys; otherwise end users will not be able to complete installation.

SP2c to Resolve Shortage of Windows XP Product Keys
Due to the longevity of Windows XP Professional, it has become necessary to produce more product keys for system builders in order to support the continued availability of Windows XP Professional through the scheduled system builder channel end-of-life (EOL) date of January 31, 2009.

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News source: MS Technet Blog

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(2 replies) #1 BanneD on 10 Aug 2007 - 11:36

so this entire sp is just about serial keys and not patches?

#1.1 petroid on 10 Aug 2007 - 11:53

Yea, this update adds another set of keys for OEM's. Woah, imagine all the unique serials out there specific to OEM's. Now imagine them running out! That's just crazy!

#1.2 toadeater on 10 Aug 2007 - 22:08

Quote - (petroid said @ #1.1)

Yea, this update adds another set of keys for OEM's. Woah, imagine all the unique serials out there specific to OEM's. Now imagine them running out! That's just crazy!

I guess it would have made too much sense to release SP3 along with the new keys? Microsoft's marketing department knows best I guess.

(6 replies) #2 SkyyPunk on 10 Aug 2007 - 13:16

That is nuts they ran/are running out :o

#2.1 excalpius on 10 Aug 2007 - 21:59

No they aren't. MS just wants to refresh the product key code generating algorithms for Windows Genuine (dis)Advantage. Sigh.

#2.2 billyea on 11 Aug 2007 - 00:22

Quote - (excalpius said @ #2.1)

No they aren't. MS just wants to refresh the product key code generating algorithms for Windows Genuine (dis)Advantage. Sigh.

I thought they were actually running low on keys, since Windows sells many copies. Do you have a source for this new claim?

#2.3 excalpius on 11 Aug 2007 - 07:10

Just do the math on the number of permutations with the keycode algorithm they have.

Just like "Windows Genuine Advantage" isn't about any kind of advantage for the consumer, you gotta read between the marketing/spin lines these days...

#2.4 RealFduch on 11 Aug 2007 - 10:00

Quote - (excalpius said @ #2.3)

Just do the math on the number of permutations with the keycode algorithm they have.

I tried some permutations and newither worked as product key for me.
What am I doing wrong?

#2.5 duhk on 12 Aug 2007 - 03:43

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. It wouldn't be smart to make all possible permutations a windows key. If that were the case, I could just make a random key and it'll be a valid one. I'd assume 1 out of every 1,000 or more permutations would be a valid windows key.

#2.6 Jugalator on 13 Aug 2007 - 06:14

OEM's aren't given the whole range of permutations, far from it. So that's not the problem (it would be greater than Earth's population). It could be that they were given a too small subset before though.

(1 reply) #3 oido on 10 Aug 2007 - 13:55

I thought this was already out, I remember seeing a bunch of Dells with XPSP2c marked in the original system configuration

#3.1 ~Greeno~ on 11 Aug 2007 - 05:54

XP x64 (64-Bit) has been up to SP2c for a couple of months now (ish)

(2 replies) #4 +IceDogg on 10 Aug 2007 - 15:10

Will this affect those of us who built our own PC and purchased a OEM version of XP Pro? Sorry if it's a stupid sounding questions but I didn't see it answered anywhere. It talks about system builders but I don't know if that means like Dell and HP or if it also means mom and pops and, in my case, those who build their own.

#4.1 petroid on 10 Aug 2007 - 17:00

This is basically stating that a new algorithm for generating product keys will be released soon. This does not affect existing installations of Windows XP Professional. New OEM copies will have new keys and require this service pack level. I gather that these products will be clearly marked as well

. This means you cannot use a CD older than SP2c to install Windows with a new product key (when available). This obviously only affects new purchases!

#4.2 +IceDogg on 10 Aug 2007 - 20:34

Thanks, sorry it didn't seem obvious to me.

(2 replies) #5 Max™ on 10 Aug 2007 - 17:21

Didn't even know SP2a or SP2b existed!

#5.1 Croquant on 10 Aug 2007 - 18:08

Yep, they do. XP SP2b debuted in July of 2006, but I don't know when XP SP2a came out.

#5.2 ir0nw0lf on 10 Aug 2007 - 20:31

Quote - (Croquant said @ #5.1)

Yep, they do. XP SP2b debuted in July of 2006, but I don't know when XP SP2a came out.

From what I can find via searches, sounded like SP2a was mentioned a lot around late 2004, so sometime after that.

#6 black_death on 10 Aug 2007 - 23:07

wow, running out of serials, pretty scary o.o

(2 replies) #7 lylesback2 on 11 Aug 2007 - 00:25

amazing how they can "run out of system keys" when they are a combination of 25 letters and numbers.. there must be over a trillion combinations..
that doesn't make sense tho, they must have designated spots for letters and numbers...

#7.1 theyarecomingforyou on 11 Aug 2007 - 01:12

Yes, but most cannot be used otherwise people would just guess the keys. They use specific algorithms to define acceptable keys and obviously they need to expand on that.

#7.2 RealFduch on 11 Aug 2007 - 10:10

Quote - (lylesback2 said @ #7)

You are so wrong...
First of all not all letters can be in serial.
Second and the most important: not all serials are valid. Didn't you know that?

(2 replies) #8 WDGC on 11 Aug 2007 - 03:00

What were the reasons for XP SP2a and XP SP2b?

How do they vary from XP SP2?

#8.1 Advancer on 11 Aug 2007 - 11:42

Quote - (WDGC said @ #

What were the reasons for XP SP2a and XP SP2b?

How do they vary from XP SP2?

Yes, I wonder about that too. Does the latest SP2 contain all the latest hotfixes? If so, it's worth remaking my XP cd with a new SP2 integrated.

#8.2 este on 13 Aug 2007 - 07:24

Quote -

Does the latest SP2 contain all the latest hotfixes?

nah dude. you still have to run through it once a fresh SP2 machine is setup. waiting on SP3 to meet those needs :>

#9 dhitb on 12 Aug 2007 - 04:23

It's like PIDv6

Glad to see XP getting a long span.

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