How to re-install Windows XP OEM Edition

[ASTON]

I purchased a laptop from sony which comes with Windows XP OEM edition a year before. I am thinking to format the computer and reinstall a windows copy. I decide this because of virus. But i having doubt because i have windows OEM edition in my laptop. I showed it to a technician. He suggest me to get the restore disk which got from the manufacturer, of my windows copy which i don't have. I do not have any restore disk. I want to install windows but thing are not working. Now what are the other solution for installing a fresh copy of windows.

[JonathanD]

Big computer manufacturers like sony, dell, etc are called as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). OEMs have a ability to pre-activate windows on the new computers. So that if you reinstall the software from the windows disk it will not ask for serial number. This step is taken by Microsoft to reduce piracy. Microsoft has disabled the online activation process for activating the windows. Now the software's have been pre-activated by OEMs. Same way you were using the original copy of Windows XP which comes with your laptop. Now you will have look for the specific Windows Disk, otherwise you will be not able to install windows in your system.Try to contact your manufacturer. May be he can help you out to get the copy of Windows Disk.

[Macarenas]

Any how you will need to contact your manufacturer to get your OEM Serial number. Because you had formatted your computer. Accidentally you had loosed your serial key. If you had not formatted your computer then you can use the below instruction to re-install a fresh copy of your windows. By this you will make a copy of your OEM edition serial key which you can use again and again to install windows.
Using sysprep -reseal -mini command
Just check out for these three files in your window drive - sysprep.exe, setupcl.exe and factory.exe. The folder path would be c:\sysprep folder.
Create a file name sysprep.inf using a text editor like note pad and put the below information.
[UserData]
ProductKey = " 00000-00000-00000-00000-0000 "
Save the sysprep.inf file in the c:\sysprep\ folder.
Run c:\sysprep –reseal –mini
Or
Changing the OOBEinfo.ini file
You can presever your OEM pre-activation information by keeping safe the below file.
" %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\oobe\oobeinfo.ini "
Ths file contains the key of your OS. It can edited by notepad.
[Version]
ProductKey = " 00000-00000-00000-00000-0000 "