Windows XP Retail Version

[Altair]

Hi

Can anyone point me to trusted online retailers in the UK that stock Windows XP Retail versions (not OEM).
Either Win XP Professional (or windows 'Media Edition'?).

Thanks in advance,

Altair.

[ganon11000]

In all honesty try eBay, if it's fake send it back! If you want 7 ultimate look for the cheapest "good-enough" fake and sent it to microsoft for a replacement genuine disk and key with the "how to tell" program

[bytejunkie]

you cant buy it anymore, its not for retail sale anymore. so you're only going to find dizzies that arent really following the rules, or boxshifters.

[NecronomicoN]

Like others stated, XP is 12 years old. It is not sold anymore. Your only bet is eBay. You might try the Classifieds for a used copy.

[bytejunkie]

i also wouldn't put it anywhere it connected to a network anymore. too easy to root, even with sp3 on. less than a year til big businesses will stop getting patches for it, its time to stop using it. unless its for a stand alone use.

[Altair]

Hi folks

Thanks for all the reply's.
Yes, it seems as though Win XP isn't available, at least for the retail version.
I had some problems crop up with the version I've got on a computer that was bought by me some years ago (Win Media Edition was included). I did a roll back to see if that would cure it, unfortunately it only made the problems worse, and gave me some extra problems into the bargain.
So...I did a complete re-install and although it installed okay (on another partition of the same drive, so I've got two versions now, one boots into windows okay, while the original just blue screens after starting windows)
Most of my original files I can access, and most of my older games will still install and run okay on the new installation.
The main problem is that it's not recognized as a genuine Microsoft version now, so I can't update from the Microsoft site.
Anyhow, it's relegated to offline work now, and of course retro games. I've built a more modern computer which is running a retail version of Win 7 home premium (AMD based) and I'm building another which is Intel based, so I'll be purchasing another Retail version of win 7 in the near future.
About the only thing I miss about XP was Outlook Express, which (personally) I found much easier to use than the more modern e-mail clients under Win 7.
I wouldn't be happy about using OEM versions anymore, it just strikes me as being too complicated if something goes wrong with the operating system.
Generally like Win 7 though, a much easier and straightforward OS.

Thanks once again for the reply's,
Appreciated!

Altair.

[bytejunkie]

xp used to install over the top of itself quite well, so if you were desperate to get the orginal up and running, you could try that. you'd have to go through all the patches again, but its quicker than rebuilding a machine from total scratch.