Changing Windows System ID

[Panda]

I had a program installed on my computer which required a serial key.
I recently formatted my hard drive, and now the program is recognizing
that I already installed the software on a computer with windows
system id "my old system id". I am wondering how I can change my
current system id to match the old one the software is listing. I
have been told to change my computer name throught "my computer,
properties, computer name" but that is not it. So if anyone knows
where I can find/change the id number it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Marky]

Hey Panda, Im not sure if I quite understand your post. Can you maybe
try and explain the issue you are having again.

Are you saying you had two partitions or two drives. you then
formatted your boot partition (thats the one with the Xp system files
on it), but kept your other partition in tact (that being the one with
your programs and stuff)?

If thats the scenario, then Im pretty sure that your only option is to
reinstall the problem program. Here's why:

With regards to WinXp, there actually two different numbers you will
come across. You will find your 20 character product id (PID) under
the general tab in System Properties. This unique PID is generated
during the installation process as a result of you entering the 25
character product key (sometimes referred to as the "cd key").

As far as I am aware, the PID can not be altered as it can only be
produced during the installation process. And if it can be altered
using other means, you will not have any control as to what 20
character number will be produced.

It is of course very easy to change your product/cd key. There are
several free programs on the internet that will allow you do this.
However, this won't help in your scenario as you are wanting to change
your PID, not your product key. Most people use these programs to
resolve activation issues or to convert an illegal key to a genuine
one.

Your only option is to reinstall your problem application. During the
reinstall, the program will write the necessary changes it needs to
make to the registry. Until you do this, your program will continue to
point to a registry entry that no longer exists.

As much a reformat is necessary every now and then, be aware of the
fact that most programs will need to be reinstalled before they will
work properly. You have to remember, that once you format your boot
partition, all the registry entries that were pointing to your
applications will be lost.

So in summary, although you may be able to change your PID (via re-
installs etc), you certainly won't be able to control what number is
generated. As a user, you get to choose what product key you enter but
the system decides on what PID is in fact generated.

I hope that helps.

Mark

[Marky]

Uhmm, it seems you can change your PID from within the registry by
going to the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

The number is listed under ProductId.

However, I still think reinstalling your application is far safer.

Even if changing the ID in the registry makes your application happy,
it is probably going to make a lot of other things unhappy.

In addition, its quite possible that after changing the id, the
application may still not work as programs tend to write several
things to the registry (which would have been lost as a result of your
format).

If you do decide to change your PID manually, let us know what
happens!!!!

But please, if you are going to make changes to your registry, back it
up first.

Mark

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