The product key on your installation of XP, as reported by any of the XP key finding programs, is probably the volume license key used by Dell to install XP on multiple computers. It bears no resemblance to the Product ID on the sticker on your computer's case. The latest version of Belarc advisor returns not only the OEM number but the product ID as well.
All of the various key finders return the same number.
You probably will not need the key to do a clean install. In the vast majority of cases when reinstalling a Dell OEM copy of XP the installation process does not prompt for that ID nor is activation required after XP has been reinstalled.
Ah, I see, and I should have thought of that, because Belarc did return a product ID with "OEM" in it. The product key was a normal looking, 25-character string.
I guess I'll get someone younger in the family to get down on their hands and knees and see if they can decipher the 8's from the B's. Those characters are so thick, they look like each other. But, since there are only a total of three of these characters, there's only 8 different way to combine them in the string. I could try all 8, if I need to enter a product key at all.
Thanks again,
BMB
Interesting note:
I had originally not wanted to use the apostrophes with the 8 and B, above, so I left them out. When I hit submit post, I got:
The message body contains the following prohibited content: 'B s' You must remove this content before submitting your post.
The smut filter is a continuing source of amusement. I have had several occasions on which I posted instructions for finding the solitaire game. You cannot enter
sol.exe without modification. If you try you are
Simply
Out of
Luck.
People named Richard who prefer the more informal version of their name are severely warned, and you can forget most hardware made by Matsushita.
The smut filter is a continuing source of amusement. I have had several occasions on which I posted instructions for finding the solitaire game. You cannot enter
sol.exe without modification. If you try you are
Simply
Out of
Luck.
People named Richard who prefer the more informal version of their name are severely warned, and you can forget most hardware made by Matsushita.
Hence the reason I go by the name "Rick"... :smileyvery-happy:
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
August 24th, 2005 15:00
The product key on your installation of XP, as reported by any of the XP key finding programs, is probably the volume license key used by Dell to install XP on multiple computers. It bears no resemblance to the Product ID on the sticker on your computer's case. The latest version of Belarc advisor returns not only the OEM number but the product ID as well. All of the various key finders return the same number.
You probably will not need the key to do a clean install. In the vast majority of cases when reinstalling a Dell OEM copy of XP the installation process does not prompt for that ID nor is activation required after XP has been reinstalled.
Blindmelonball
193 Posts
0
August 24th, 2005 16:00
Ah, I see, and I should have thought of that, because Belarc did return a product ID with "OEM" in it. The product key was a normal looking, 25-character string.
I guess I'll get someone younger in the family to get down on their hands and knees and see if they can decipher the 8's from the B's. Those characters are so thick, they look like each other. But, since there are only a total of three of these characters, there's only 8 different way to combine them in the string. I could try all 8, if I need to enter a product key at all.
Thanks again,
BMB
Interesting note:
I had originally not wanted to use the apostrophes with the 8 and B, above, so I left them out. When I hit submit post, I got:
The message body contains the following prohibited content: 'B s' You must remove this content before submitting your post.
Wow.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
August 24th, 2005 16:00
The smut filter is a continuing source of amusement. I have had several occasions on which I posted instructions for finding the solitaire game. You cannot enter sol.exe without modification. If you try you are Simply Out of Luck.
People named Richard who prefer the more informal version of their name are severely warned, and you can forget most hardware made by Matsushita.
rickmktg
2 Intern
•
11.9K Posts
0
August 26th, 2005 22:00