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General discussion

can you use a dell oem disk xp pro with sp3

by kicol Feb 26, 2009 11:34AM PST

Hi all i was wondering if i can you use a dell oem disk xp pro with sp3 on a system i built its a amd 64-3200 i have a xp pro with sp1 and valid product key
i want to use this disk so i dont have to update to all the service pack i will be using my valid product

Thanks

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
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If the copy of XP SP1 that you have ...
by Edward ODaniel Feb 26, 2009 3:04PM PST

is also OEM then you might be able to use the Dell CD and the other key but if the other CD is not OEM then the key will not work.

I would suggest downloading the SP3 (the full network version) and either making a slipstreamed CD with SP3 or just installing SP3 after a regular install of the instllation CD. Since the installation Cd already had SP1 you do not need SP2 because SP3 is cumulative and contains everything in SP2.

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copy of XP SP1 that you have ...
by kicol Feb 26, 2009 11:20PM PST

Thank you Ed the cd i have is not OEM so based on what you said it will not work do you by chance have a link where i can download SP3 (the full network version)

thanks again

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OEM varitions
by Willy Feb 27, 2009 2:12AM PST

If you load your new system with SP1, then the MS update will provide any other SPs you need. You can directly access the s/w download center via MS support and get the SP3 that way. If you can't google for a hit, then go directly to MS support website.

By all rights, using a system OEM OS that is tied to a vendor like Dell, shouldn't work outside of non-Dell systems. No matter how you slice it, if you proceed expect problems if not now, then later. There are generic OEM OS system disks that are open to any DYI builder, if yours is one of these, I see no problem excluding the SP update as an extra step.

tada -----Willy Happy

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dell
by kicol Feb 27, 2009 2:16AM PST

thanks willy thats what i did

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wow......
by helljack6 Feb 27, 2009 5:27AM PST

Willy,

I know for a fact that you can use a Dell OEM XP Home or XP Pro CD on non-Dell Systems, I've done it several times without issues. The only difference is that on the %system% there is an additional folder called c:\Dell that can be safely deleted.

Also, you should know that some of the previous SP1 Keys will not work with OEMs with the latest service pack for one reason or another. I had heard rumors that the keys were also tied specifically to the OEM Service Pack release.

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That's not a given...
by Willy Feb 27, 2009 9:13AM PST

Dell restore/recovery install disks are not all the same. What may work one time won't on another system. That's why I mentioned, sooner or later. As for Keys, these can be generic across a model series but even that can fall flat on its face for whatever reason. Its not 100% true that Dell OS CDs can work all the time for non-Dell systems. For all the time and trouble(hassle) to get things running, it just pays to have legal OEM versions or retail. Please post when it doesn't work as well. Wink -----Willy

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Here is a link to the Network Installation package ...
by Edward ODaniel Feb 27, 2009 2:58AM PST
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