Having problem in Windows XP Product key

[Ayush]

Hello everyone,

Hey i'm having problem while using my Windows Xp product key. I have bought windows xp and had received the product key with it. Few days before i have updated and installed the latest version of windows xp on my system. It showed me that i had only 30 days of trial period left. It asked me to enter the product key and rightly i did the same,but after entering the product key it says that the product key is already in use. Can any one tell from where will i get the new product key? Can any one help me out with this problem?


Thanks..

[jesse]

There are two methods of changing Windows XP's product key:-

You can change a Windows XP installation's product key either by editing the registry or by using one of two Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) scripts. The registry editing method is outlined in Knowledge Base articles and works on Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, and Windows XP Corporate Edition. The script method is in outlined article and is designed to work on Corporate Edition installations that use a VLK and do not require activation. It may work on a Home or Professional installation, but I have not tested this scenario.

The script method is the practical solution for changing the product keys on a large number of machines. Regardless of the method you choose, make sure to backup important data before changing a product ID, since an unexpected problem could render the machine unbootable and necessitate a complete reinstallation of Windows.

[Humberto]

These is the process by which you can do registry editing.

Begin by opening the Registry Editor and navigating to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents

In the right pane, right-click the ODBETimer binary value and select Modify. Change at least one character of this value to either a number from 0 to 9 or to a letter from A to F, then click OK and close the Registry Editor. This renders the current product key invalid and deactivates Windows.

Now, it's time to reactivate Windows using your new product key. Click Start In that Run and enter the command:

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe /a

where %systemroot% is your Windows directory. In many cases, this command will look like:

C:\windows\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

After doing that Windows will launch the Product Activation Wizard.

Select the option to telephone a Microsoft customer service representative to activate Windows, as shown in Figure A, and click Next.

Now, select the Change Product Key option and enter your new product key as shown in Figure B. Finally, click Update and close the window. If Windows returns you to the previous screen, just select the Remind Me Later option. When the wizard is finished, reboot the system.

When Windows reboots, your next step will depend on which Windows XP version you are using. If you have XP Home or Professional, you'll be prompted to reactivate your copy of Windows through the normal activation process. If you have XP Corporate, no activation is required and your machine should have a valid product ID. You can verify this by running the %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a command again. When the wizard loads this time, you should see a message indicating that your copy of Windows has already been activated.

[Lillebror]

Another simple way is to just contact your Microsoft (i.e. call on their toll free number) to get a new product key. This is the normal procedure for having another windows xp product key.