Is there any way of finding out the windo key from the CD? I have been given a copy of Windows XP but no registration key. Any ideas? Cheers

There is no key per se in the CD. CDs are interchangable as long as it is of the same family. IE, WinXP pro, WinXP home OEM, WinXP corp., etc. If you have no key you can't legally use WinXP. The key is proof of license ownership.

If your PC came with XP, there should be a sticker on the case somewhere. That will be the key. Some HELP in posting on Cnet plus free progs and instructions Glad to Help!

As already pointed out there is no key in the CD. When your system was installed it will have been installed with a particular key. There are different types of key. The main ones being VLK, OEM and Retail. There are two types of OEM which I term as "SLP OEM" and "Generic (or boxed) OEM". "SLP OEM" only come with pre-built PCs from major OEM suppliers such as Dell and HP. "Generic (boxed) OEM CDs are generally bought together with PC hardware such as motherboards etc from an approved PC component seller Each of these have different characteristics, are purchased differently and require different media to Install the OS. If you have an "SLP OEM" install (e.g. Dell, HP, etc) then the key that is attached to your case will not be the same as was used in your system. These types of systems are known as SLP BIOS locked systems and the key used is a special type of Volume Licence Key for use by OEM suppliers such as HP, Dell etc. These keys can only be used in those system provided by these major OEMs and are locked to the PC BIOS. The VLK (Volume Licence) key is used by and sold to major corporations and businesses with multiple PCs. Both the above do not require activation with Microsoft. The OEM key that appears on your SLP BIOS locked PCs case can sometimes be activated by a manual call to MS. You have to however, convince them that you are the legitimate owner and that it has not already been used by someone else. The Retail key and "Generic OEM" key requires activation with Microsoft during the install phase. This is generally a simple process and involves an automatic online activation towards the end of the install (assuming the PC has the capability to connect to the internet). There are tools available which will allow you to extract the key that is currently in use in your PC. ___________________________________________ ☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.

I have extracted the XP home key from my PC which is branded as a "cisnet" PC. I don't have the original disk anymore but do have just a normal xp home disk, will that work with the extracted code or is that the volume thing you mentioned?

That sounds like an OEM version of WinXP. The retail version of WinXP CD cannot be used in place of the OEM CD. Conversely, the OEM key cannot be used to register the retail version of WinXP. What you have is pretty much legally useless. Your only option is to find the manufacturer of your computer and buy a restore set of CDs from them. I think the going rate is about $25 US.

The following is assuming that your installed Windows XP is an "OEM SLP" install. If you still have your original Windows XP still installed on your PC and you have the i386 directory installed into your system then it is possible to create a slipstreamed XP CD that will behave like an "OEM SLP" CD. The following page shows how it can be done: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic571... You will see from my posts in the above page that I have actually used it to create an "OEM SLP" (SLP BIOS locked) CD for a HP Pavilion. If you do not have the i386 directory from your original install, then it is still doable but involves getting your OEMs OEMBIOS files from elsewhere; There is an OEMBIOS repository that holds OEMBIOS files for most common major brands. However, looking at it I cannot see "CISNET" anywhere. Maybe it is not CISNET but something else, that is for you to work out. Here is the link to the OEMBIOS repository: http://www.oembios.net/ ___________________________________________ ☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.