Xps 630 630i. Recovery CDs or reformat w/ OEM generic XP

I'm still confused. My OEM (if it even is that) requires a product key. I was told it's just plain universal generic XP. I can install it basically on any machine and I don't think I have a limit on how many can connect to the internet and be verefied as genuine etc. As I said in that other sort of long linked thread, I've installed Recovery discs to a Sony Vios desktop which made it a faster PC than just the generic OEM (if that's what I even have), so you're saying they should have been equal in performance and thus maybe the recovery CDs had drivers/utilities etc that made it perform better? What do you mean by 'changed'? in 'if the motherboard board was changed, the OEM disk may not work and would ask for an activation key"

The XPS 630 and the XPS 630i are one and the same. The i was initially used to indicate Intel and an AMD equivalent was planned but never made.

If you are using a Dell-OEM XP Reinstallation CD it will not ask for a product key and will instead use system locked preinstallation activation providing the Windows XP setup is ran within the Dell BIOS.

If you are using a generic OEM Installation CD or one form another manufacturer, system locked preinstallation won't exist on the CD or be valid for the system so it will ask for a product key.

Regarding the Sony discs, they may not be true installation CDs but recovery media which have preinstalled drivers and preinstallaed software. In general recovery discs will be tied to the Sony system and the performance is usually worse than that of a clean install using a generic Dell OEM installation CD due to the large number of preinstalled junk by OEMs which ruins Microsoft Windows installations. In addition the presence of drivers may conflict with major Windows updates such as Service Packs in some cases again leading to severely reduced performance.

For Windows XP Dell provided XP Reinstallation CDs which were identical to generic OEM Reinstallation CDs with the addition of System Locked Preinstallation.

In order to get correct performance the Service Packs have to be installed then the system drivers should be installed in the correct order and Windows Updated fully.

It is not recommended to install Windows XP however as it reaches its End of Life in about half a year see Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 Support Ends April 2014. Clean installation of Windows 7 64 bit or Windows 8.1 64 bit is recommended.

For more information about clean installing Windows XP or Windows 7 see Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows 7 (or Windows 8 or Windows XP):

http://philipyip.wordpress.com/dell-community-forums/

A Clean Install of Windows 7 instructs you how to install Windows 7 without a product key so you may evaluate it on your system for the trial period of 30 days. A Clean Install of Windows 8 instructs you on how to Clean Install Windows 8.1 consumer preview which you may use to evaluate Windows 8.1.