Windows XP N

[empireum]

Yeah, the NT4 box looks cool, and an "untouched" one is somewhat uncommon I think. I'm still looking for an "unopened" (i.e. it should be in almost perfect shape and condition) retail version of NT4 Workstation and Windows 2000 Server as I like the look of the box with the logo, but they're still quite expensive... It wouldn't even have to be an English or German version as I have them from MSDN, any language, just the retail with the cool box, CDs and stuff. Just too expensive! I will keep looking. Someone on eBay was once selling Win2k Server MultiLanguage, but he wanted more than 500 euros for it (instant-buy or whatever it's called)

BTW, I can see your NT4 box standing on your laptop Cool screensaver, by the way (Though I usually don't use them, I just turn the display off)

Here's a shot from the retail boxes I have right now. I used to have more, but I sold some of them (OS/2 2.1, and I really wish I had kept it; and Windows Me, because I had absolutely no use for this OS) and my Win98 box got so severely destroyed I had to throw it away...



I have to say that nothing of this was free though, I either had to pay for it myself or got it as gifts for birthday, Christmas or just... well, because someone thought I'd have liked it!

Some things to note:
1) One of the Windows 2000 Professional copies is in Japanese.
2) The Windows XP Professional copy is in Traditional Chinese
3) The CDs lying in front are, from left to right: Mac OS X Server 1.0 (aka Rhapsody 5.3); Windows NT Server 4.0; Windows 2000 Professional RC2; Windows 2000 Server RC2.

And this "MS Office Beta 2 Kit 2003" manages to keep its promise:

Mmmmh, delicious betas

And here's is a close-up on the documentation you are going to own when buying a Traditional Chinese copy of XP Pro:


So, I think, that's it for now...



By the way, what's with that for a collection (it's not mine, of course):

[ddrmaxromance]

Yeah, my parents don't like to save boxes. We actually threw out a "Macintosh LC II" box a few months ago, as well as some old Packard Bell boxes. Software wise, we only keep "The Sims" boxes for some reason. I save all boxes nevertheless.

[Vista Ultimate R2]

Nice collection you've got there I'd love to get some more boxed stuff, but it rarely comes up on the free stuff places and is expensive when for sale, except for the 95/NT4 age of stuff that is in between collectable and useable.

Things I've missed out on recently include a free boxed copy of Windows 2, which was offered on the university clearout list quite a while ago and I'm still really annoyed about missing it by about 5 minutes (stuff always goes to whoever claims it first), a shrinkwrapped Mac OS 8 box that I saw on eBay recently but it got bid up too high (about £10 or something I think it was, but I didn't think it was worth it), and I did consider ordering the Office 2007 Beta kit but in the end decided £7 shipping/handling was a bit too much for what it was

Yeah, my parents don't like to save boxes. We actually threw out a "Macintosh LC II" box a few months ago

You should have kept that! Mac boxes are quite collectable - an old Mac like that with the original cardboard box always seems to fetch a good price on eBay, even if the Mac itself has no value. I have a couple of LC II machines that I got from Freecycle, but alas no boxes etc with them

[KenOath]

I'm certainly not going to get dragged into this little show & tell as I don't
have the time right now, but seeing you like packaging so much, I took
a few shots of an NT4 build you don't see everyday...
When I return from interstate in about 2 weeks I might take a few shots
of the early MS paraphernalia I have tucked away..

[empireum]

Forgive me my ignorance, but what's that "Special Developer Edition"? Your photos have just shown me again how nice the box is...

[AnDrEwP182]

I threw out my Windows 1.01 box and my Dos 3.3 box . I wonder why Workstation is the only Microsoft box that I ever liked...

[KenOath]

Forgive me my ignorance, but what's that "Special Developer Edition"? Your photos have just shown me again how nice the box is...

According to the source I obtained this from, It was given to the beta
testers of NT4 who were active in submitting a certain amount of bugs,
as a thankyou from Microsoft, similar to what they've just done by giving
a copy of Vista to the beta testers of Vista..
Only them days, instead of letting you just download a copy & send the
key, They actually posted the OS in the mail...
I obtained this new / unopened..
I opened it to image the CD only...
I'll take some shots of some more rarities in a couple of weeks..!

[Namronia]

ive got no boxes, but ive got

MS Dos 6.22
Windows 1.01
Windows 2.0X
WIndows 3.X
Windows NT 3.50/51
Windows Chicago (95 Beta)
Windows "96" (Windows 95C Beta)
Windows NT 4 Workstation and Server
Windows Memphis (98 Beta)
Windows Georgia (ME Beta)
Windows ME
Windows NT 5 (2000 Beta)
WIndows Neptune (Win 2000 "Home")
Windows 2000 Server/Adv Server
Windows Whistler (XP Beta)
Windows XP
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter/Enterprise/Small Business
Windows Longhorn 3683-4093
Windows Vista 5231/5600/5744/6000
Windows Longhorn "Server" 6001


NO ILLEGAL COPIES!

[empireum]

@Namronia
Yeah, sure... Legal copies of all that, including the Datacenter releases... Yeah. First, I can't remember to have started a "Let's all show off what we all have" thread, we were talking (off-topic) about the retail boxes. And second, unless shown a reliable proof that all you listed is indeed legal, I'm not believing a single word. But who cares, anyway?

[kichimi]

damn, i knew i shouldn't have let my parents throw away Windows 95 Upgrade on 3 1/2" Floppys, and i had MS Visio 4 and that got thrown out

[Namronia]

@Namronia
Yeah, sure... Legal copies of all that, including the Datacenter releases... Yeah. First, I can't remember to have started a "Let's all show off what we all have" thread, we were talking (off-topic) about the retail boxes. And second, unless shown a reliable proof that all you listed is indeed legal, I'm not believing a single word. But who cares, anyway?

how should i show it to you?

[empireum]

@Namronia
Yeah, sure... Legal copies of all that, including the Datacenter releases... Yeah. First, I can't remember to have started a "Let's all show off what we all have" thread, we were talking (off-topic) about the retail boxes. And second, unless shown a reliable proof that all you listed is indeed legal, I'm not believing a single word. But who cares, anyway?

how should i show it to you?

That's up to you.

[Vista Ultimate R2]

Please don't get into an argument over this. As far as I know, 2003 Datacentre is only available via Volume Licensing or OEM. There's not really any way to prove that he has a legal copy therefore, as if it is legal then it would just be a download and a key. Possibly he has access to VL (or maybe MSDN, as they seem to get everything?) or knows someone that does - tha's the only way he could have a legit version unless he's bought a new datacentre server, which seems unlikely. I don't think there's an evel version of DC - the other two 2003 editions he says are legal could be evals.

Some of the things you say you have I don't think can be legal eg Longhorn 3683, as I believe that was never released legally outside of Microsoft

[empireum]

Please don't get into an argument over this. As far as I know, 2003 Datacentre is only available via Volume Licensing or OEM. There's not really any way to prove that he has a legal copy therefore, as if it is legal then it would just be a download and a key. Possibly he has access to VL (or maybe MSDN, as they seem to get everything?) or knows someone that does - tha's the only way he could have a legit version unless he's bought a new datacentre server, which seems unlikely. I don't think there's an evel version of DC - the other two 2003 editions he says are legal could be evals.

Yeah, that's what I mean. A moment, there is a way to get a copy of 2003 Datacenter, that's where my copy is from. If you're in the 2003 SP2 beta, you get access to integrated builds, along them is Datacenter. Is that legal? I don't think 2003 Datacenter is available on MSDN, but I don't know. And that still leaves the question about 2000 Datacenter. But as I said, I don't care. This is just childish and leads to nowhere. Let's ignore that.

Some of the things you say you have I don't think can be legal eg Longhorn 3683, as I believe that was never released legally outside of Microsoft

Yeah, that's what I think as well. And I hate that. I hate it when people boast and just show off to make themselves feel special and behave like 13-year-old kiddies. But anyway, let's end that, I don't feel like arguing now. At least we are adults and should behave accordingly, shouldn't we?

Back on topic now, okay?

[Namronia]

Please don't get into an argument over this. As far as I know, 2003 Datacentre is only available via Volume Licensing or OEM. There's not really any way to prove that he has a legal copy therefore, as if it is legal then it would just be a download and a key. Possibly he has access to VL (or maybe MSDN, as they seem to get everything?) or knows someone that does - tha's the only way he could have a legit version unless he's bought a new datacentre server, which seems unlikely. I don't think there's an evel version of DC - the other two 2003 editions he says are legal could be evals.

Yeah, that's what I mean. A moment, there is a way to get a copy of 2003 Datacenter, that's where my copy is from. If you're in the 2003 SP2 beta, you get access to integrated builds, along them is Datacenter. Is that legal? I don't think 2003 Datacenter is available on MSDN, but I don't know. And that still leaves the question about 2000 Datacenter. But as I said, I don't care. This is just childish and leads to nowhere. Let's ignore that.

Some of the things you say you have I don't think can be legal eg Longhorn 3683, as I believe that was never released legally outside of Microsoft

Yeah, that's what I think as well. And I hate that. I hate it when people boast and just show off to make themselves feel special and behave like 13-year-old kiddies. But anyway, let's end that, I don't feel like arguing now. At least we are adults and should behave accordingly, shouldn't we?

Back on topic now, okay?

ok, its NOT mine, there are them of my father, hes 38

@Namronia
Yeah, sure... Legal copies of all that, including the Datacenter releases... Yeah. First, I can't remember to have started a "Let's all show off what we all have" thread, we were talking (off-topic) about the retail boxes. And second, unless shown a reliable proof that all you listed is indeed legal, I'm not believing a single word. But who cares, anyway?

how should i show it to you?

That's up to you.

mh... is it possible to show? how!

[___]

i got a office xp student edition box somewhere. my xp didn't come with a box, instead a shrink wrapped peice of cardboard.

I do remember one store having a rather large basket of Windows ME upgrades for sale, but wasn't quite cheap enough to justify a purchase (in other words, not free)

[Vista Ultimate R2]

A moment, there is a way to get a copy of 2003 Datacenter, that's where my copy is from. If you're in the 2003 SP2 beta, you get access to integrated builds, along them is Datacenter. Is that legal?

Ah, of course, I'd forgotten about those. They are timebombed, but still legal (as long as you only use them for "evaluation"). We have legit copies of Compute Cluster too, remember (if the key rather than the actual files themselves is what determines legality, as we only seem to have the key) - now that's something to boast about having Only joking (I was only talking about rare boxed stuff before because we were talking about how a boxed - and especially shrinkwrapped - N edition would be very collectable in the future)

I do remember one store having a rather large basket of Windows ME upgrades for sale, but wasn't quite cheap enough to justify a purchase (in other words, not free)

You mean they weren't paying you to take them away Poor old ME - to be honest it's actually not bad in my opinion, so long as you use proper ME-specific (ones that come on the ME CD if possible) drivers, but let's not open that age-old debate now

[KenOath]

I hate it when people boast and just show off to make themselves feel special and behave like 13-year-old kiddies. But anyway, let's end that, I don't feel like arguing now. At least we are adults and should behave accordingly, shouldn't we?

Back on topic now, okay?

We have to remember now that Namronia is indeed 13 as stated in the
"how old are we thread" so it's understandable that he says what he says,
I know I probably said some pretty silly stuff when I was 13 for feeling
the need to be accepted, we should maybe just ignore posts that are
such as a result...

I hate it when people boast and just show off to make themselves feel special

TBH, Most posts I make, I often hope that it's not the impression I myself
am making, but it often looks as though I'm boasting after I read through
my post after I've made it...
I can tell you though, if I weren't here or on other forums, I'd still be
beta collecting & hoarding a mass of CD's & boxes that are for the
most part, useless..!
Sorry for the off-topic rant, but I think Namronia was just joining in as a
13 year old would, don't think I'm having a go at you though because I'm
not..!

[Vista Ultimate R2]

Most posts I make, I often hope that it's not the impression I myself
am making, but it often looks as though I'm boasting after I read through
my post after I've made it...

Not at all I'm just interested to see all these things, especially the less common ones that I haven't seen before or even didn't know existed. I'm always on the lookout for interesting stuff, but sadly it's not often that I find anything for free or very very cheap.

[empireum]

We have to remember now that Namronia is indeed 13 as stated in the
"how old are we thread" so it's understandable that he says what he says,
I know I probably said some pretty silly stuff when I was 13 for feeling
the need to be accepted, we should maybe just ignore posts that are
such as a result...

Yes, you're right, and that's what I will do from now on I mean, I can remember I said some silly things too when I was 12 or 13, and that was only about 7 or 8 years ago. I remember well when I was 12, I was the only one in my school class running Windows NT4/2000 (beta and then RTM) and Linux on his own PC and I felt pretty well proud of that (because all my school/classmates were running Win95/98 if they even had an own PC and didn't know anything about NT/2000 or Linux, at least the majority of them). So, I know what this is all about. Kinda...

TBH, Most posts I make, I often hope that it's not the impression I myself
am making, but it often looks as though I'm boasting after I read through
my post after I've made it...
I can tell you though, if I weren't here or on other forums, I'd still be
beta collecting & hoarding a mass of CD's & boxes that are for the
most part, useless..!

I have to quote Vista Ultimate R2 here – not at all, KenOath. When you show us something, it is always something of interest, and mostly something that I personally have never seen before. And TBH, I admire you for having such cool stuff like all these betas, even really rare ones, a genuine Windows Powered ISO and so on. With you, it's also the fact that I know (well, at least, up to some extent) who you are, speaking of the beta collector scene from OSBA and the like.
And I think every collector has his collection that he is proud of and he loves to present the rarest pieces of it. That's how it is for me, and I love collecting. But I never intend to boast or show off to make me feel special because that would be childish. Or so I hope, at least... That's the reason I don't like it when other people act like that. You can show what you're proud of, but not in a "OMG OMG l00k what 1 hav Im so 1337 and the r0x0rz!!!111oneone" way.

To sum it up, let's all cool down.

[glbanksitter]

Yes it takes the normal XP keys...
It would take all of 10 minutes to convert a VLK to either OEM or retail..
It's Just a matter of swapping 7 files for either, it's the only difference
in all XP versions regards to whether it's a VLK, OEM or Retail version...

Oh? Is there a guide somewhere for this? I googled around a bit, but couldn't find anything much on it. Would anyone like to PM me the instructions on how this is done if at all possible? Thanks!

[KenOath]

Yes it takes the normal XP keys...
It would take all of 10 minutes to convert a VLK to either OEM or retail..
It's Just a matter of swapping 7 files for either, it's the only difference
in all XP versions regards to whether it's a VLK, OEM or Retail version...

Oh? Is there a guide somewhere for this? I googled around a bit, but couldn't find anything much on it. Would anyone like to PM me the instructions on how this is done if at all possible? Thanks!

No I've not seen a guide of it on the net anywhere...
Over time I became familiar with the differences between the
retail vs OEM & one day I got to wondering if the same were to apply
to the VLK, turned out it did...

[empireum]

@glbanksitter
While we're at it, the famous "Corpfiles" have been around for quite some time, and they allow you to transfornm either an installation CD and/or an installed XP (don't know exactly), either OEM or Retail, to VLK. Apparently, I can't link to those.

[Vista Ultimate R2]

I think it's OK to list the files that you need to replace, if not link to the files themselves (it's easy enough to find a VLK copy of XP anyway, if you want to extract the files from it in order to convert a different edition of XP that isn't officially available as VLK eg MCE):

win9xupg
dpcdll.dl
nt5inf.ca
oembios.bi
oembios.ca
oembios.da
oembios.si
pidgen.dll
setup.ini
setupreg.hiv

I saw this list on another site once - no guarantees that it's 100% right but as far as I know they are the right files - feel free to correct me if necessary

[___]

i remember changing my xp home oem to xp pro corp, you still find the odd thing saying XP home (eg the boot manager). nLite still read the iso as XP Home and slipstreaming a service pack changed it back to home again