Cheapest and easiest way to buy genuine XP

joshtbh

Hi all,

Wonder if anyone can help please?

1) What is the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to buy a genuine licence for XP (either home or pro)?

2) It's because my friend has had his PC back from a repair shop with a copy of windows XP pro on it which i'm not sure is genuine, is it possible to change the key in regedit with this fix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328874/ to a genuine one?

kat21

you shouldnt really be posting about trying to obtain a windows license key. try searching online some of the larger stores may offer a copy of windows xp cheaper, some may run promotions or, you may be able to buy a copy (origional) at a computer fair
kat21

joshtbh

why shouldnt I be posting about trying to obtain a Windows License key?

I thought this was a techie forum?

smcicr

just to clear things up, i'm NOT suggesting that you are trying in any way shape or form to do this (and in fact it sounds like the opposite) but i would think the concern is about piracy and the potential for people trying to find ways of getting a valid key on the cheap for non genuine installs...

so, moving on.

i bought an xp pro upgrade cd on ebay a while back for £60 plus p&p. if you do a search for that you'll get a lot of results. it was a fully boxed, sealed, hologrammed job and the seller had a shop which was linked to MS for checking of their approved status - I guess the biggest thing is that it passes the WGA check and i download updates with no problems. in other words, i'm convinced it's genuine and not a hooky copy.

while it says upgrade you can actually do a full clean install from it so i guess that would be a pretty cheap way of doing it - you can probably get xp home cheaper from places like aria, dabs or novatech etc if that's what you wanted instead?

hope that helps.

Skint1

Try ebay. Or wait until Vista comes out and the price for XP will drop.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/xp-retail_W0QQfcclZ1QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1

A_Nice_Englishman

Check whether you have a genuine copy here

If it is genuine, great. If it isn't go back to the repair shop and ask them what they are going to do about it. Depending on how you feel you could also report them to Microsoft.

redux

There were a couple of non-genuine volume licence keys around a while back but I assumed that Genuine Advantage was sorting that out.

If you can report the dealer to Microsoft for selling unauthorised copies, you may be able to receive either a free or reduced cost (about £90 for Pro) copy

Or buy a genuine OEM copy from a dealer for £90 to 100 for Pro; I think £60 for Home. They can sell this with an order for hardware, and most have a cheap fan or floppy disc power lead under a quid.

Chippy_Minton

Cheapest genuine XP license? £53 for XP Home from ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/114048 (it comes with a free CD!)

jinkssick

I have never used a pirated Windows XP since its release on various computers, plus I have never passed them to relatives and friends.

*

Blagalot

redux wrote:

There were a couple of non-genuine volume licence keys around a while back but I assumed that Genuine Advantage was sorting that out.

There are various ways of getting round WGA. Seems a waste of time to me as people with dodgy copies will hack it whereas many genuine owners still get told that their copies aren't genuine which ain't good for Microsoft's PR.

A-Wing

Blagalot wrote:

There are various ways of getting round WGA. Seems a waste of time to me as people with dodgy copies will hack it whereas many genuine owners still get told that their copies aren't genuine which ain't good for Microsoft's PR.

It is there because small computer manufacturers have been selling PCs with illegal licenses (or no license at all) and Microsoft are now recouping the cash. The owners of these PCs didn't even know that it was pirated until WGA and certainly don't know about the WGA crack.

I know of 2 shops near here and 5 or 6 in the hertfordshire area that sell pirated Windows with their PCs, I don't think this will stop them either.