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In preparation for a new Disaster Recovery plan, I need to change the OEM (factory installed Server 2003 OS from Dell) License Key to a recently purchased Volume License Key. This needs to be done so that Windows will register and work on different hardware then originally installed on in case of a recovery on new hardware as a result of a disaster.

The server this needs to be done on is a very large and complex Database server. I have been told by my Disaster Recovery source the only way is to either reinstall Windows using the new key, or to run a windows repair and enter in the new key during the repair process. A windows repair is risky since this is such a large and complex server.

I have read the following MS Knowledge Base Article but it refers to changing a Volume License Key, not specifically changing an OEM License Key.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918342

Can anyone say for certain if this will still work? if not can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks you!

I have used Server 2003 many times andI believe the safest way would be to maybe use ntbackup.exe to create a complete backup of system state and files then reinstall the server OS wth the new key. Good Luck!

Hi, I got a Compaq Presario PC with AMD 64 Athlon running with windows XP. I got no back up CDs… (Yeah, I know I’ve been Naughty), the problem is that I ran a Windows Automatic Update and it requested a restart after completed, the computer turned off but it didn’t restart, instead, it went to the black background white letter page. So, I tried to start it on Save Mode, but it didn’t worked, it just showed a long list of program commands that I didn’t understood. Then, I F10ed it, to get a PC recovery with Compaq system recovery tool to restore it to the settings It got a day prior this disaster, but when I tried that, the program didn’t let me to restore it to an early point, instead, it let me to restore it to factory settings and I did it. Then I installed the internet router antenna, Microsoft Office 2007 and Norton Internet Security 2009 to perform a scan of all files, hoping that it would restore my Word documents. Surprisingly I didn’t work. I just need to recover a couple of way important word documents, or better, to restore my settings to the day before yesterday. Any help will be welcome. THX.

Sorry for the bad news, but your documents are gone. Factory fresh means just that. It needs to be complete in case the reason you need to restore is in one of the documents you want back.

This is a good time to think of a backup scheme for the future. Now that you have installed your programs, make an image of your system as it is now update it when you have important changes or documents. Acronis True Image or Ghost is good if you have a DVD burner.

I have Norton Ghost. One time I had to re-format my computer and re-install Windows XP. When I ran Norton recovery, the computer did not return to it’s original format. i.e. files were missing.

If I do a copy entire hard drive(advanced) option, would I be able to recover my computer completely "intact" in case I have another disaster and have to re-format and re-install Windows XP?

Or should I just buy Acronis True Image Backup?

If Norton "copy entire hard drive" option will do the same thing as Acronis, I don’t want to spend the extra bucks.

Thanks for any opinions.

Yes it will and I wouldn’t be without. A lot depends on which version you have, I have version 14 and that allows you to backup your entire hard drive, or your own selection of files and folders. It also gives the option of copying your hard drive to another drive, if you want to instal a bigger drive, and many other features. If you have a catastrophic failure you insert the Norton disk and boot from that and it automatically restores to the latest backup.

I think it’s terrific.