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Thread: Missing XP Home CD

  1. #1
    Zzzzzzz sleepyhead's Avatar
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    Missing XP Home CD

    Dell Laptop running XP Home, needs a reformat BUT the CD either didn't come with the laptop OR was lost.

    My brother-in-law still has the CD key though (stuck to the bottom of the laptop).

    How do I go about getting another copy of XP Home without having to purchase another license?

    This laptop is old enough to be out of Dell Warranty period.

  2. #2
    Editable... jimbouk's Avatar
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    Re: Missing XP Home CD

    Did it come with some sort of recovery disc rather than a 'normal' XP install CD? Or sometimes these laptops have a recovery partition? Other than that you are into the legally dubious grounds of downloading a CD from the tinterweb or just borrowing one from someone you know. It'll be the OEM edition for the laptop if you get a choice of ones...

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    Senior Member this_is_gav's Avatar
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    Re: Missing XP Home CD

    He can download a standard CD from a dubious place if he wants, but I doubt it'll work. Large OEMs tend to have customised XP disks where standard CDs (OEM or Retail) won't recognise the key.

    Added to that, the key stuck to the bottom of you laptop is highly likely to be all-but-fake. Dell, like most large OEMs, have the actual key hardcoded into the BIOS of the system, and the customised XP install doesn't ask for the CD key itself.

    How far these measures are taken depends on the age of the laptop too though.

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    Re: Missing XP Home CD

    if this is to resolve your old post http://forums.hexus.net/help-technic...-problems.html pop up problem, then all he needs to do is understand English and follow simple instructions. It's not difficult, he just needs to uninstall all the unnecessary crap he has on there - like the tool bars - so you can see what you are doing. But he does need to stay in front of the screen for more than two minutes at a time though.
    .
    "Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice: Pull down your pants and slide on the ice"

  5. #5
    Zzzzzzz sleepyhead's Avatar
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    Re: Missing XP Home CD

    The pop-up problem is one issue yes.

    The reformat idea (that I suggested) is due to the fact I cannot resurrect Norton Internet Security/Firewall/AV that came with the laptop. I also cannot remove it either. Safe mode doesn't allow me to remove/re-install Norton's either.

    Pop-up solution hopefully be further resolved when I visit this weekend I'll post the new hijackthis report on the specific thread.

    It's a shame that the CD key at the base of the laptop is most probably fake. Perhaps a call to Dell may resolve this but none of us really want to shell out money to resolve an issue that could be fixed locally (especially as they are trying to move).

    If you haven't guessed, my sister and brother-in-law are not very PC au fait unless it's your usual Word/Excel/Powerpoint proggies

    PS Everytime I 'visit' the laptop to help fix it, there's ANOTHER problem...

  6. #6
    Splash
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    Re: Missing XP Home CD

    Contact Dell support - they should be able to sell you a new OS CD which WILL work fine, and won't be legally dubious. You'll still probably need the drivers to hand though.

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