Is there any way to retrieve windows xp product key from the installation cd, i integrated SP2 to my original windows cd and apparently the product key has changed because of that.

ok if windows is still installed you can recover your cd key using "magical jelly bean finder". it can be found here http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml and im sure that when u mean integrated you made a iso and then integrated?? because of course theirs no way of integrating it into your original disk

You can make your cd key apart of your install by running the self-install kit found on your cd. The files required for doing this are in the DEPLOY.CAB file. You run a wizard pretty much the same as when you format and it creates a file for you to put on disk, which will have your user info as well as your key :-). Its nice to have a automated slipstreamed sp2 XP disk. Format and reinstall in like 15-20mins :-)

PS Give reverse engineering ago :-p

Thats cool. Yeah i never knew you could do something like tht. Ill definelty give that a try.

Its great if your someone that formats alot because it cuts down the time totally and plus you can make it so that there no interaction at all but not to sure how to do that. Like you can make it format your drive as well and set up a partition. And install programs like Java, Quicktime, FireFox, drivers as part of your windows install. I had a tutorial for it somewhere if i find it ill post it up.

Here's a slipstreaming tutorial, made easy : http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm

Thanks for the link