Ok, so I have a legal XP OEM license on an Gateway T2692.

Note: I do NOT believe in doing anything illegal, so an requests for Keys will be ignored and your comment will be deleted.

Problems:

1. The motherboard died and I replaced it.
2. The restore CD was an image not the install files and it failed with a blue screen.
3. I don’t have an OEM XP CD.

So I read that I can easily convert an XP Retail disk to an XP OEM disk, so here it goes.

Step 1 – Modifying the Originally CD Files

1. Copy the XP HOME w/SP3 Retail disk contents to a folder.
2. Copythe i386\SETUPP.INI file to SETUPP.INI.RETAIL
3. Edit the i386\SETUPP.INI file.

   Change it from this: (SETUPP.INI for Retail Versions)

   [Pid]
   ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
   Pid=76477000
   

   To this: (SETUPP.INI for OEM Versions)

   [Pid]
   ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF
   Pid=76477OEM
   

Here is a resource I used: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/08/16/how-to-change-windows-xp-version-between-retail-oem-and-volume-license-channel/

Note: Make sure you save your changes. You don’t won’t to burn the disk only to find you didn’t make the change and you still have a retail disk.

That should be enough to change the files of the CD into an OEM instead of a Retail disk.

Step 2 – Extract the boot sector

1. Download and extract a boot sector extraction tool such as: http://www.nu2.nu/bbie/

2. My drive was drive F:, so I ran bbie with the following syntax: (In Windows 7, I had to open the command prompt as administrator.)

   bbie.exe f:

3. Copy the image1.bin to the directory where you copied your XP CD files.

You now have the boot sector extracted.

Step 3 – Building and Burning the CD

1. You need burning software that will create a bootable XP CD. If you don’t have burning software, download and install http://cdburnerxp.se, which is what I am going to use, but Nero and other burning applications can do this as well.

2. Open your burning software and choose the option to create a new data disc.
3. Name your new disk this: GRTMHOEM_EN
4. From the CDBurnerXP menu, click on Disk | Boot options and configure your boot options as follows:
   Use the image1.bin file.
   Emulation Type = No Emulation (NT/2000/XP boot images)
   ISO Level = ISO9660:1999 (unrestricted)
   Load Segments = 7C0 (or 07C0, same thing)
   Loaded Sectors = 4
   Enable [Check] ISO version number extension
   Disable [Uncheck] Enforce level 1
5. Now from the folder where your disk files were extracted, drag all the files to the new data disk.

   Yes, I did follow this guide, so you have to give credit where credit is due: http://www.dtraylor.com/blog/?page_id=40

6. Make sure you have a blank CD in the drive.
7. Click Burn.
8. Select Let me choose Advanced Settings.
9. Choose Disk at once.
10. Click Burn Disk.

You now have a working XP Home w/SP3 OEM CD.

Step 4 – Testing the CD

1. Boot off the CD and run through the installer.

2. Enter the OEM product key when prompted.
3. If it works, you really have an OEM CD, if not you don’t.

I have to be honest, even though I knew the right settings I clicked one of them wrong the first time and made a coaster out of my CD. But I repeated my steps and the CD booted.

SWEET, MY OEM KEY WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!