Accidental Piracy?

[Darla]

My Dell computer came with Windows XP Home installed, I
recently got everything out of whack and it wouldn't
allow me to do a system restore so I was going to re-
install XP. No problem except I get about half way
through only to find out that my disk is damaged. My
friend had hers so we used it and it worked great except
when we got to the part of the product key#. It would
not accept mine, only hers. How can I get my product key
number back on my system?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Q. "How can I get my product key number back on my system?"

A. Your Dell Product Key is only valid when used with the Dell
Reinstallation CD. Contact Dell support and request a replacement.

Welcome to Dell Support
http://support.dell.com/

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

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| My Dell computer came with Windows XP Home installed, I
| recently got everything out of whack and it wouldn't
| allow me to do a system restore so I was going to re-
| install XP. No problem except I get about half way
| through only to find out that my disk is damaged. My
| friend had hers so we used it and it worked great except
| when we got to the part of the product key#. It would
| not accept mine, only hers. How can I get my product key
| number back on my system?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Perform a repair installation using a new CD provided by the
computer's manufacturer.

Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

Perform a repair installation using a new CD provided by the
computer's manufacturer.

That would be great advice if Dell would send out CDs after 30 days, but
they don't. The only alternative I know that works is to buy a Dell CD
on eBay. These are offered by corporate IT admins who only need to keep
a couple of CDs from a batch of hundreds of machines. I see nothing
wrong with this, as the CD will only work on Dell hardware and you have
a COA license for XP.

You have to make sure that the CD you buy fits your model. For example,
if you have an Optiplex (a common business machine) you need an Optiplex
Windows CD. If you have a Dimension, you need a Dimension CD. Also look
for the Resources CD that matches your model, since that will save you
some time downloading drivers.