Anyone who has ever installed one of the "newer" Microsoft products, like Windows 2000, and has done that multiple times, will sooner or later get tired of having to entering the "simple" Product Code over and over again.

Here’s a way to alter your setup files in such a way that this task belongs to the past.

First off, you copy your Windows 2000 setup files from your CD to your harddisk. At a minimum you have to copy the I386 directory, but copying all the files makes it easier to burn another CD from it later on.

Now go into the I386 directory you just copied onto your hard drive and find the Setupp.ini file. Right click it, select Properties, and remove the Read-only checkmark. Now open the file to edit it.

Your setupp.ini file should read something like this:

[Pid]
ExtraData=6166656C736263737373B2574A0581
Pid=51873XXX

Replace the 3 X’s (generally it will be three zeros) at the end with the value "270". It should now read something like this:

[Pid]
ExtraData=6166656C736263737373B2574A0581
Pid=51873270

That?s it! You can now install Windows 2000 without a serial number!

Note: This works with all versions of Win2k; Professional, Server, and Advanced Server.