XP Home & XP Pro temporary Product Key?

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Guest

Our techs each have to install an average of 2 XP Home and 1 XP Pro systems
per day. Given the time taken to do this, I want to automate the process as
much as possible. I will be using unattended files as much as possible, but
the main problem is with Windows Validation.

I want to install IE7, but this needs GA and GA needs Windows to be Validated.

All the systems are legit licensed, but we have to activate some over the
phone, probably because the install media doesn't match the OEM key properly.

Is there any temporary key that can be used that will definitely pass
validation (2 days is enough, 5 would be nice) and then once all the install
scripts have run, the real key can be put in and validated (over the phone if
necessary).

At present some of the techs are just not caring and not bothering with IE7
because they can't be stuffed spending too much time on the install, which is
obviously not a good thing.
 
No such thing AFAIK. To install updates without activating take a look at
autopatcher.com, you can install them all from a CD.
 
David B. said:
No such thing AFAIK. To install updates without activating take a look at
autopatcher.com, you can install them all from a CD.
Click to expand...

I'm using it at present, but it won't install IE7 if I haven't activated the
machine first.
 
David B. said:
No such thing AFAIK. To install updates without activating take a look at
autopatcher.com, you can install them all from a CD.
Click to expand...

I'm using Autopatcher now. It still won't let me install IE7 on an
unvalidated Windows.

The alternative is of course to just install Firefox, I'd just like to give
Microsoft a chance to make IE7 more convenient or at least as convenient to
install in our environment.
 
Ben said:
Our techs each have to install an average of 2 XP Home and 1 XP Pro
systems
per day. Given the time taken to do this, I want to automate the process
as
much as possible. I will be using unattended files as much as possible,
but
the main problem is with Windows Validation.

I want to install IE7, but this needs GA and GA needs Windows to be
Validated.

All the systems are legit licensed, but we have to activate some over the
phone, probably because the install media doesn't match the OEM key
properly.

Is there any temporary key that can be used that will definitely pass
validation (2 days is enough, 5 would be nice) and then once all the
install
scripts have run, the real key can be put in and validated (over the phone
if
necessary).

At present some of the techs are just not caring and not bothering with
IE7
because they can't be stuffed spending too much time on the install, which
is
obviously not a good thing.
Click to expand...

Are you installing IE7 directly from MS or from the full downloaded network
install file? I was able to install IE7 on an unactivated temporary XPPro
test
installation with no WGA intereference.
 
You may want to post in the autopatcher forum, I have no problems at all
installing IE7 on unactivated machines.
 
Just thought I'd add that it is not uncommon for OEM licence-keys to fail to
activate by Internet. We get this all the time, even with genuine media and
keys.

In general I'd say it isn't a question of not caring, rather that the whole
process of setting-up a new PC demands so much manual input, the mindless
repetition of entering the same program-settings, over and over again, for
every PC. Yet because of the installers used by modern programs, and because
of the need for activation, there is seldom any choice but to go the manual
route.

Only recently I found that thanks to strange registry-permissions, it is now
impossible to app-package Acrobat Reader for rollout, meaning that each copy
has to be laboriously set-up by hand, wasting hours of time and worse,
guaranteeing that no two machines will be identically set-up. The vendors
don't seem to realise (or don't give a damn) that this nonpackageability is a
huge setback for anyone who has to install multiple copies. My answer is
simple; use Foxit reader, which is packageable.

In general, this situation is crazy. A computer is a machine designed to
automate tasks. Yet, this fact seems to have been forgotten somewhere along
the way.
 
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