Changing the XP Prdocut Key

By amERICa
in Microsoft (Windows)

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amERICa

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First of all, I am not asking for keys, I am asking for help in changing some.

I am working on the task of documenting all the licenses we have and which are in use and so forth. In the process, I have been changing the installed key from the OEM key to the one actually on the case. There have been a total of three computers that I can not change the key on though and I am wondering if there are any other methods available to do this. I was change the OOBE timer and then running the activation wizard as was posted on Microsofts website (even though none of these are VLK keys it still worked on every single machine except these three). All three of these are XP Home, but it worked on others. The wizard just comes back up saying it has already been activated. I have also tried third party utilities to change it for me and they all fail as well. I am hoping someone else out there has experienced this and can help out. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

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Grand Master

Rob Veteran

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Inside the attached ZIP is a VBS script file.

Run it with the key as an variable, for example, going to Start > Run and typing:

C:\ChangeKey.vbs ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE

Can't promise this will work as you seem to be having a most bizarre problem, but I used this method yesterday for my PC and it worked, so it's another option you could try.

ChangeKey.zip

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amERICa

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I was using the magic jelly bean key changer before. It does not work on these three systems though. I noticed that on most of the machines, the OOBETimer is the only key in WPAevents, but on these three there is a second key "LastWPAEventLogged". This key was also on 1 or 2 other machines that worked fine. Removing / changing either of these keys has no effect. With or without this second key I get "Windows has already been activated" and without the OOBETimer key the activation screen doesn't even come up (kind of expect that), changing it gives the already activated as well.

I tried the WMI scripts from the MS KB artickes, and I get an error that says Invalid Operation 0x80041016. Your script did the same thing.

Any other ideas? This has me baffled.

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amERICa

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Those are the instructions from MS basically. However, I did not try:

Make sure you are logged in with the local administrator account, not just an account with Administrator privileges.

Try replacing the %systemroot% variable with the actual drive letter that your actual directory path, especially when dual booting, or if the system path is on a drive other than C:\

Well since it is Home Edition, you can only access the Administrator account via safe mode, and you can't activate Windows in safe mode, but the account I am using is an administrator on the PC. Explicitly defining the path didn't help either unfortunately.

Home Edition just gets lamer and lamer...

Grand Master

MazX_Napalm

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And how would you use sysprep to change the product key? I don't want to reinstall these systems if at all possible...

586514751[/snapback]

Run setup manager (i386, support, deloy.cab).

This creates an answer file for the sysprep. Put tyhe correct details in it.

Run sysprep.

PC restarts and does a mini install that takes about 10 minutes.

All done.

Mentor

+orgitnized Subscriber¹

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Well since it is Home Edition, you can only access the Administrator account via safe mode, and you can't activate Windows in safe mode, but the account I am using is an administrator on the PC. Explicitly defining the path didn't help either unfortunately.

Home Edition just gets lamer and lamer...

586514986[/snapback]

Just as an FYI, you can definitely access the administrator account in normal boot mode. If you are using the welcome screen to get in, just hold down Ctrl+Alt and hit the Del key 2 times. It'll take you to the classic login and you can login as administrator.

So many people don't know about this, and it's one of the biggest security risks on Home Edition installations. Since so many manufacturers don't assign a password to "administrator", pretty much anyone who knows this can access the account by doing what I just wrote.

Experienced

McSmiggins

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Just as an FYI, you can definitely access the administrator account in normal boot mode.  If you are using the welcome screen to get in, just hold down Ctrl+Alt and hit the Del key 2 times.  It'll take you to the classic login and you can login as administrator.

So many people don't know about this, and it's one of the biggest security risks on Home Edition installations.  Since so many manufacturers don't assign a password to "administrator", pretty much anyone who knows this can access the account by doing what I just wrote.

586525674[/snapback]

That's true, but normally you'll get an error saying "Cannot log you on due to account restrictions" if you try to log onto a Home machine as Administrator on a normal boot

Mentor

+orgitnized Subscriber¹

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I hear ya. Even Microsoft talks about it with home edition. But I've just never had it happen to me where I couldn't login to the account from Normal mode on the Home machines that I've used. Then again, I barely ever use the home edition so my details could be a bit fuzzy...! :p

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