Im such an idiot

[UKMuFFiN]

ok. i was gonna start by saying "please dont laugh at me" but i cant really blame you if you did.

i just got in from night out with the lads for my birthday (getting the sympathy in) on my comp for a bit to do some backups before bed, done 1 DVD full that went fine, reached for a blank cd for the next burn, wrote on it in my permenant CD writer pen.... flipped the disc over.

Duh duh dun! its my win XP cd..... i remember putting it on top of my blank cds earlier upside down, my blank cds are PCline which are basically the same on top as the bottom so look like the underside of cds anyway so i thought what i grabbed was a blank CD.

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHH

chucked the disc in an tried accessing random files in hope i could make a copy of it but some files are unreadable.

is there anyway you can get a new cd? if you prove you have it genuinly? i.e. by providing your installation id? i hate being tired/semidrunk.

[BrandX]

just outta curiosity, try using some TIM cleaner. You know like the Akasa stuff that's based on orange. It's great for getting pen off things!

[UKMuFFiN]

wont that damage the cd? coz i do have some.

[BrandX]

Nope mate, just get a really soft cloth and sort of gently brush over it working it in!. Could always try toothpaste aswell, make sure it's not the abrasive stuff though!

[hoodmeister]

shouldn't do. It's very gentle stuff.

If that fails then try a thinner. More likely to damage the CD (although still unlikely) but lets face it, you've nowt to lose.

Just do it in that order, and use a clean, soft, lint free cloth to clean it.


This should be fine tbh.

[da_ging]

isopropyl FTW + a terry towel aka soft cotton face flannel commonly used for.. yep u guessed it washing your face but also usefull for cleaning easily scratched surfaces

[Clstrphbc_donut]

**IF THIS POST IN ANYWAY BREAKS THE RULES OF HEXUS PLEASE DELETE THE POST AND NOT ME**

Cant you download a copy, and use your CD key, which pretty much makes it a legit copy? Its legal to own a back-up from what I've read so..... ?

You own a legit copy of XP and i honestly back up EVERY game i buy to my hard drive incase the disc itself gets damaged, so if you have paid for XP I imagine you have every right to download an iso of XP and use your _PAID FOR_ cd key for that.

[0iD]

Get on of those CD rescue thingys, if they can polish out scratches, they can get rid of marker.

[Howard]

**IF THIS POST IN ANYWAY BREAKS THE RULES OF HEXUS PLEASE DELETE THE POST AND NOT ME**

Cant you download a copy, and use your CD key, which pretty much makes it a legit copy? Its legal to own a back-up from what I've read so..... ?

You own a legit copy of XP and i honestly back up EVERY game i buy to my hard drive incase the disc itself gets damaged, so if you have paid for XP I imagine you have every right to download an iso of XP and use your _PAID FOR_ cd key for that.

That wouldn't be a problem I shouldn't think.

[IBM]

Only slightly similar, but I've tried to use the recovery disks for my laptop, only to find that due to a hard drive failure and replacement, they no longer work. So I slot in another (legit) copy of WinXP that I've got, thinking to use the product code from the laptop to activate the second copy of XP. Unfortunately when I get to activating XP it fails, and I have to give India a call. I explain it all to the lady on the other end of the line, letting her know it's not the same copy of XP the code was originally supplied for, and she says it's not a problem.

Moral of the story is, you pay for the key, not the disc. Can't see them having an objection. Alternatively if you really want another copy, get in touch with Microsoft and see if they operate a scheme to return damaged disks for working copies.

[UKMuFFiN]

and I have to give India a call.

ha ha, very subtle, i liked that.

Cheers for all the help guys, off to find my Citris flavoured TIM cleaner

[TonyBurn]

Just find someone with an XP cd and copy it.

When you buy Windows although you get an install CD you are paying for the license and right to use Windows XP on your computer, just because you installed it off a copied CD means nothing.

[Workaholic]

ok. i was gonna start by saying "please dont laugh at me" but i cant really blame you if you did.

i just got in from night out with the lads for my birthday (getting the sympathy in) on my comp for a bit to do some backups before bed, done 1 DVD full that went fine, reached for a blank cd for the next burn, wrote on it in my permenant CD writer pen.... flipped the disc over.

Duh duh dun! its my win XP cd..... i remember putting it on top of my blank cds earlier upside down, my blank cds are PCline which are basically the same on top as the bottom so look like the underside of cds anyway so i thought what i grabbed was a blank CD.

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHH

chucked the disc in an tried accessing random files in hope i could make a copy of it but some files are unreadable.

is there anyway you can get a new cd? if you prove you have it genuinly? i.e. by providing your installation id? i hate being tired/semidrunk.

Try sending Microsoft a photo as proff you have a fully pressed CD with ?manual? and official casing.

[Adam107]

yer contact microsoft about it, or try one of those space weapon like things that mends CDs, although i dont know whether they are designed to remove permanent ink

[5lab]

i'd personally just download a copy

[Stringent]

You could download a copy, some of the more talented people have WinXP with SP2 slipstreamed into the CD already! Make sure its a retail version, you might want to get one of those N-in-1 CDs that have multiple versions of XP on one CD. When you install, choose the rertail version, and use your Windows XP CD key.