XP SP3 Integrated Images on MSDN & Technet!

[AndrewJ]

Umm, can someone please help me out here?

1) AFAIK, the OEM version won't allow me to do both a clean install and upgrade, whereas the VL/Retail versions will, right?

2) Is it better to use the VL version or the Retail version in any way?

2) I will be going to Windows Update after clean installing it, so will the VL version pass the WGA check (since it doesn't need activation)?

2) How do I know what type of key I have?

TIA! :)

[richter]

Someone will definitely correct me if I'm wrong.

1) AFAIK, the OEM version won't allow me to do both a clean install and upgrade, whereas the VL/Retail versions will, right?

Wrong. If you have restore disks from your manufacturer you can easily do clean install.

2) Is it better to use the VL version or the Retail version in any way?

It's the same thing. One accepts retail keys other accepts volume keys.

2) I will be going to Windows Update after clean installing it, so will the VL version pass the WGA check (since it doesn't need activation)?

If it's pirated, it won't. Windows Activation and Validation are two different things.

2) How do I know what type of key I have?

Well, how did you acquire your version of Windows? If it came preinstalled on your machine (you have sticker with key on your machine) then it's OEM version. If you bought it in a store then it's retail version (key on the box CD came in). You most likely don't have volume key. Those are available to business, government and educational institutions who have large number of users.

[necrosis]

ISO's are *STILL* not up for VLK users.

[Digitalfox]

So have the other languages been released like Microsoft said on 5 of May?

For example Portuguese ( Portugal )?

[Avi]

Is there anything like this available yet for Windows Vista SP1?

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=624016

[strekship]

Umm, can someone please help me out here?

1) AFAIK, the OEM version won't allow me to do both a clean install and upgrade, whereas the VL/Retail versions will, right?

2) Is it better to use the VL version or the Retail version in any way?

2) I will be going to Windows Update after clean installing it, so will the VL version pass the WGA check (since it doesn't need activation)?

2) How do I know what type of key I have?

TIA! :)

Well, if you have to ask what key you have, you probably don't have a volume license key. The only difference between volume license and retail versions are that volume license versions do not need activation because they are designed for businesses to be able to deploy on multiple computers using the same key.

[AndrewJ]

Thanks for the replies everyone! After reading the responses, I guess I have the OEM version installed. So what do you guys suggest? Can I do a clean install with the VL/Retail versions and use my OEM key? If not, do I need to contact my system's manufacturer for an update (note that my warranty has expired)?

[strekship]

You need to use an OEM CD to use your OEM key, although I think you could probably modify the retail CD to take an OEM key. I can't remember off the top of my head which file needs to be edited though. I think its something like setupp.inf.

Edit: Here, read this site it might be helpful:

http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/setuppini.html