Windows XP, Installation Acrobatices with Product Keys

I've wasted around five hours this past week dealing with miscellaneous Windows XP licensing issues. Ever since Microsoft (basically) started tracking users, it's been difficult to resort to the tried-and-true technique of "justified piracy" to maintain one's legitimate software license rights. After all, the way 99% of the world sees it, if you paid for a licensed copy, but lost the CD, you're entitled to use the software legally.

What happened was, my work didn't have a copy of the Windows XP installer CD. Instead, it had a "Volume License Key" CD, which is a slightly different installer, which accepts only VLKs, as I learned when I tried to install XP using the key on the sticker on the computer. Because they had the VLK CD, I proceeded to call MS to see if they had a VLK agreement. They wanted me to assent to what amounted to a software audit for the site's Windows licenses. That seemed a little dicey, because there were definitely duplicate keys in use, but each machine also had an genuine XP sticker on it with a unique key. The admins probably used the same key out of habit, when they upgraded boxes.

It was also going to take days to process this bureaucratic mess. So, the internet came to the rescue. I found some VLK serial numbers on the internet, and installed from the CD. Then, I went in and tried to change the key. This invalidated the original key, and forced me to use Microsoft's tool to change the key. After supplying the original key on the sticker on the computer, everything went smoothly.

For instructions on modifying the key: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html

If you want to avoid all this hassle, use Linux.