Yet another clean install question

I'm pretty sure I've seen this here but for the life of me I cant find it.

I have a T60P with XP. I want to use a retail disk to clean install using my magic jellybean found code.

Can you do this type of install without activation, like the guides I've seen for Vista? If you just put the number in while installing or the one off the coa, XP does not recognize it as valid. If you slipstream the number with nlite, xp will boot but not activate because of an unrecognized number. I Don't really want to call and have it activated that way because I kinda dump my system from time to time because I have nothing better to do.

I even tried copying the 2 old activation files from win32 folder to the new install, and that didn't work either.

Anybody know the trick?

 

i think the question might be borderline illegal, i'm sure if you give MS a call around 9PM they will pick up quickly. last time i remember their hotline was 24/7


if your version of xp is 100% legit and you just really don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to get another activation code over the phone, i'm sure you can find a solution very easily on newsgroup sites.

 

Can you get the original i386 folder that came with your T61 on your c: drive? If so, then that's all you need to reinstall winxp. in the unattend.txt file there's a OEM code that you can use so that you won't even get the windows activation prompt to come up.

 

Well...its a t60p...but that is the code that I used and still get activation bubble.

 

you need to put that code in a WINNT.SIF file and it'll bypass the activation process. are you sure you never messed with the unattend.txt file? if so, then your code should end in *VRW. If that's the case, then go check out nliteos.com and make youself a custom install.

 

The code does end with VRW, (I checked the unattend.txt file and used magic jellybean finder - they match) and I have an older disk of XP so I used nlite to slipstream SP2, and put the code in. I burned the iso, loaded windows successfully (no errors or bsods). Not sure of the process to put the code in a winnt.sif file, does that happen with nlite?

 

you can either make your own custom winxp install cd manually, i.e., you have to know the directory structure etc.

I prefer nlite, because you can apply tweaks with the install. and yes, with nlite you can enter the key near the end so that nothing even shows up.

For example, here's what I did to make my own install cd.

1. Downloaded all the drivers from lenovo for my T61
2. Used nlite with ryan's hotfix pack (google it) and integrated the iastor (SATA drivers)
3. Made the winxp installer install all of the drivers and applications. That way, once the install is done, I don't even have to do a single thing. Just logon and use windows.

If you're just starting, I suggest you just perform step 1 and 2. Step 3 is rather complicated and you may just want to download lenovo's software updater to install all the drivers.


BTW, you don't need to use your older XP disc. The one that comes on your T61 i386 folder already has XP2 on it. Just make sure your directory structure is correct. Just make a couple of bank files with the appropriate filenames indicating your have SP2.