Not sure what you are asking. However if you need to reinstall your pruduct key without formatting and within windows than follow these instructions.
Maybe Someone would like to ok this before lots of other see it?
Mucks Ian maybe. It is directly from the MS site tho!
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INTRODUCTION
loadTOCNode(1, 'summary');If you use a "leaked" product key (a product key that is known to be available to the general public) for the deployment of Microsoft Windows XP across multiple computers (a Volume Licensing installation), you may not be able to install Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later versions of Windows XP or automatically obtain updates from the Windows Update Web site. For example, you may experience the symptoms that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article when you install Windows XP SP1 or a later version of Windows XP:
326904 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326904/) You receive a "The product key used to install Windows is invalid" error message
This article describes how to change the Windows XP product key after a Volume Licensing installation. You can use the Windows Activation Wizard graphical user interface (GUI) or a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script. The Activation Wizard method is easier, but if you must change the product key for multiple computers, the script method is better.
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MORE INFORMATION
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Use the Activation Wizard
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Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
If you have only a few volume licensing product keys to change, you can use the Activation Wizard.
Note Microsoft recommends that you run System Restore to create a new restore point before you follow these steps. For information about how to create a restore point by using System Restore, see the "To Create a Restore Point" help topic in Help and Support. 1.Click
Start, and then click
Run.2.In the
Open box, type regedit, and then click
OK.3.In the left pane, locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents
4.In the right pane, right-click
OOBETimer, and then click
Modify.5.Change at least one digit of this value to deactivate Windows.6.Click
Start, and then click
Run.7.In the
Open box, type the following command, and then click
OK. %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
8.Click
Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows, and then click
Next.9.Click
Change Product key.10.Type the new product key in the
New key boxes, and then click
Update.
If you are returned to the previous window, click
Remind me later, and then restart the computer.11.Repeat steps 6 and 7 to verify that Windows is activated. You receive the following message: Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit.
12.Click
OK.13.Install Windows XP SP1 or a later version of Windows XP.
If you cannot restart Windows after you install Windows XP SP1 or a later version of Windows XP, press F8 when you restart the computer, select
Last Known Good Configuration, and then repeat this procedure.
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Use a script
loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');You can create a WMI script that changes the volume licensing product key, and then deploy this script in a startup script. The sample ChangeVLKey2600.vbs script and the sample ChangeVLKeySP1 script that are described in this section use the new volume licensing key that you want to enter, in its five-part alphanumeric form, as a single argument. Microsoft recommends that you use the ChangeVLKey2600.vbs script on Windows XP-based computers that are not running Windows XP SP1 or a later version of Windows XP and that you use the ChangeVLKeySP1.vbs script on Windows XP-based computers that are running Windows XP SP1 or a later versions of Windows XP. These scripts perform the following functions: •They remove the hyphen characters (-) from the five-part alphanumeric product key.•They create an instance of the
win32_WindowsProductActivation class.•They call the
SetProductKey method with the new volume licensing product key.You can create a batch file or a cmd file that uses either of the following sample scripts, together with the new product key as an argument, and either deploy it as part of a startup script or run it from the command line to change the product key on a single computer.
For more information about how to script the product key, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/wpadepl.mspx
