Checking Serial Key For Windows To Find Out If Genuine?

[Kel1981]

Hi everyone.

I recently bought an old(ish)PC which has Windows Vista Ultimate on it.

Vista will not update, I've tried everything I always get the same thing (Error '80070490')

Now, the point of my post.

It has an 'XP Media Center Edition 2005' serial code on the side. I think it would run much better on XP and want to download and install it via USB if possible.

Can I check if this serial will still work by any means?

Thankyou

 

[Kel1981]

You say your PC has a MCE key sticker but has Windows Vista installed.
If the motherboard is still the original the BIOS will hold SLP1.0.
What you need is an OEM disc which matches the manufacturer i.e. Acer, Dell etc etc.

This is what activated Windows XP back in the day.

Windows Vista OEM machines held SLIC2.0 in their BIOS.So the Vista installation is not genuine.

Simply downloading a XP MCE image and burning that to CD to install using that code on the sticker will not work.
You would have to make a XP MCE OEM disc. For this you would need to match the OEMBIOS Set to the SLP1.0 in the BIOS. Plus a matching OEM key.

All quite straight forward really.

Thank you for your response but I have no idea what you mean, I'm pretty much a novice (but I'm learning)

 

[Kel1981]

Left it a bit late to learn about Windows XP....

I can not talk nor give info on these forums on how to make a Windows XP MCE OEM disc.

This would be deemed "Piracy" even though that machine has a fully paid license and M.Soft won't care much about it now any way.

Google. XP OEM discs.

"trust" me and I can point you to a place to find such info.

Question , what make of PC is it ? Acer ? Dell ?

Hi. It's a HP Pavilion s7000 slimline PC. Thanks again for your responses.

By the way, it's a low spec PC (as you probably know) I bought for my daughter but it runs a bit sluggish. It was designed for XP Media Edition (so it says on the case anyway) and it was only bought for learning/schoolwork and a few fun games for her to play every now and again.

 

[Kel1981]

OEM means a disc supplied from someone like Dell, (Original equipment manufacturer)
These discs will be picked up by the motherboard bios and install an activated version of windows.
Retail Disks would install but require activation.

Ah I see. Would the serial key definitely work though if I was to obtain these OEM discs? Is there anyway to check?