Windows XP Pro Volume License Key vs Retail Key

[theheyes]

Hi guys,

I wasn't sure whether to post this in the Windows forum, but I figured you guys might have a better idea.

I've just got a new technician's job, and the previous technicians haven't done a good job of keeping things organised.

Basically, a laptop of ours was playing up so I decided to format the drive and reinstall XP Pro. The laptop has a genuine XP Pro product key on the underside of the case. The only XP CD I could find was a Volume License CD, which I figured would be okay to use. I was wrong. I've never used a Volume CD before, and it asks for a Volume Product Key - it won't accept the original Key that is on the laptop. I probably should have anticipated this, but it is one of those things that only comes apparent afterward.

In amongst the piles of paperwork I have found certificates for volume licenses, but no actual key.

Does anyone have any advice? Is there a way to contact MS with the details of your certificate to recover your Volume key? Or would it just be best to cut my losses and buy a single OEM version of XP Pro and use that disk to install the OS?

Thanks guys.

 

[theheyes]

Cheers guys, just so long as I'm not missing something obvious. An OEM CD will probably be handy to have around anyway, and I'll have a spare license to boot.

The sad thing is I will probably find the documentation after I sort the place out. I'll bear that jelly bean thing in mind though.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[theheyes]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Basically, as far as I can tell (I'm the only I.T. guy on site, it's not as if I can even ask a co-worker) the volume licenses were bought to upgrade a few Win98 machines. The laptop itself was bought with XP Pro pre-installed, this is why there is a mix of volume licenses and original serials. The recovery CDs for the laptop are long gone, which is why I tried to use the Volume License CD to reinstall XP Pro. It's just a shame the Volume installation doesn't like an single key. I think I will have to beg/steal/borrow/buy an XP Pro CD. Pity I don't have one at home (I have Win98, XP Home, Vista Premium - just not the one I need!)

I took delivery of a few Lenovo laptops today, and I've told the staff not to remove the recovery discs from their corresponding laptop bag. Hopefully this will save me some headaches in the future!

Thanks again for your comments, you've been really helpful.