OS versions & install keys revisited - another questiion

[Nolonemo]

I am wondering if there is a way to trick an installed XP OS into thinking it is a different flavor of the OS (eg, retail instead of OEM, etc.). Let me explain.

I was considering installing Windows Media Center Edition 2005 on my PC so I could use it as a HTPC, but I didn't want to plunk down the money for the OS without seeing if I would be satisfied with the way it worked.

So, being a clever fellow, I dug up a copy of MCE and an activation crack floating around in cyberspace, and installed it. Tried it out for a while, and it worked fine.

Since I had decided to keep using the software, I thought I should go legit with it, so I purchased a retail OEM copy from NewEgg (the OEM version that MS sells for system builders).

I thought I would just change the install key registered in the system to the install key on my COA for the purchased OS and then go and activate it. But no.

First I tried using the Magical Jellybean keyfinder to change the key, but the key change wouldn't "take."

So then I used the method of editing and invalidating the key hash in the registry and re-entering the key in the Windows activation screen, but when I tried that I got an "invalid key" message returned when I tried to install the key.

At that point, I realized that the copy I first installed had had probably been pirated off of some vendor's HTPC box, and was therefore a different "flavor" than the OS I had purchased, and that I was facing the incompatible version/key issue that's been discussed on the forum.

So then I tried corrupting the install, thinking that if I could do a repair install, I could enter the correct key at the prompt. However, when I booted from the install CD, there was no option for a repair install, only a clean install.

So for now, I'm faced with a clean install, which I want to avoid, since (a) I'll have to reload a bunch of other programs and (b) I'll have to configure those programs the way I like, all of which takes a bunch of time.

So, my question is, does anyone know how to force an existing XP OS to accept a change to an install key that it is for a different flavor of the OS?

Note that I am NOT trying to run illegal software here. I have purchased the retail OS and just want to be able to activate the existing install just as if I installed the retail version.

Thanks (an apologies for long-winded post)

Nolo

[carbon_unit]

Just reload everything and make it right. It'll be right and you will be legal.
That will also give you a chance to redo any mistakes you made earlier.

[Nolonemo]

Just reload everything and make it right. It'll be right and you will be legal.
That will also give you a chance to redo any mistakes you made earlier.

Hmmm. I figure I'm legal enough if I'm using the same software while in possession of a valid COA, though technically I'm sure I'm in violation of some aspect of the ULA. The mistake I made earlier was in loading the "trial" copy!

[carbon_unit]

The mistake I made earlier was in loading the "trial" copy!

Exactly. So just bite the bullet and reinstall it and be done with it.