Windows XP OOBE Product Key step???

[tariqm]

After "syspreping" an existing XP installation, it asked for an OEM key. I tried most of them and did not work. I know there's a way to bypass this step by adding the following in the oeminfo.ini file in the %windir%\system32\oobe directory:

Code: Select all

[version]
Product Key="valid product key"

Is there a way to completely bypass this step and/or instruct the OOBE to accept retail keys???

[Lukas Marsik]

How about installing a Retail version to begin with, not OEM.

[Eggs6131]

Lukas is right - as far as I know you can't bypass the Out of the Box Experience screens. Retail is the way to go - with XP Professional you can extract the product key from the ISO itself (I'm not giving you my key as it's a violation of forum rules)

[tariqm]

How can I make the OOBE ask for a Retail key???

[AlphaBeta]

try to replace pidgen.dll with a version from the retail winxp

[ReztaNZ]

Windows XP retail key should work but there are ways to skip it, like with Windows XP black edition, it doesn't use oobe, has a different install method as it doesn't use the standard installation screen. Perhaps worth checking it out as to how they did it.

[tariqm]

Here's the screenshot about the Product Key step in the OOBE I'm talking about:



Note that the screenshot above is requesting an OEM key. I tested some Retail and Volume Licensing keys and they work correctly. Is there a way to tell the OOBE to request Retail keys? I tried replacing PIDGEN.DLL and it did not work. Also, how do I trick the Windows Welcome (OOBE when "syspreped") into thinking Windows is already activated so that the "Ready to activate Windows?" screen does not appear. It still displays if I "sysprep" a Windows XP machine with AntiWPA running. And how can I remove the Product Key step from the screenshot above?

[yksoft1]

Use some external boot disk, replace msoobe.exe with cmd.exe, edit the target registry value SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Setup\SystemSetupInProgress.

[tariqm]

Use some external boot disk, replace msoobe.exe with cmd.exe, edit the target registry value SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Setup\SystemSetupInProgress.

I tried the OEMBIOS Changer and that worked. I used a Product Key viewer (of course I'm not gonna make a screenshot of it because it's illegal and against the Forum rules!) and added that to the OOBEINFO.INI file and it worked. One time OOBE still declined the key and I felt like I was mad. I believe the OEMBIOS Changer is the solution.