How do I obtain Windows XP Home Ed. CD to reinstal. I have product

[bigmac66]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with machine.

 

[smlunatick]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with machine.

If Time did not provide you a reinstall method, you will need to buy
another version. If the product key is stuck on the PC, then this is
an OEM version which Time Computer is / was to provide the direct
support.

 

[LVTravel]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with
machine.

How to replace Microsoft software or hardware, order service packs and
product upgrades, and replace product manuals

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326246

Scroll down about 1/3 way under title: Replacement OEM or system builder
software media

 

[Mark Adams]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with machine.

Your computer probably has a hidden restore partition from which you can
both reinstall the operating system and create a set of reinstallation disks.
Computer manufacturers are required to provide the end user a way to restore
the machine to factory specs. If you are absolutely certain the machine did
not come with a set of disks, then it has a restore partition. Read your
owner's manual to find out how to restore the operating system and create the
disks; that's what it's for.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Under terms of its Volume Licence with Microsoft, Time Computers was
/required/ to provide you with a way to reinstall Windows.

If no CDs were included, there's probably a hidden Recovery partition you
can use to restore the computer to OOBE state (especially likely if it's a
laptop). Contact Time Computers (0870 122 4301) or see
http://pcs.timecomputers.com/aboutus/ or www.totalcaresupport.com

 

[Paul]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with machine.

Interesting. A post here, seems to indicate there is
only one partition showing in the partition table of
the computer. So the recovery partition is not visible,
like some of the stuff on Dell computers.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-44227-Hidden-Partition.html

It is tricksy, whatever the method used is.

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1049835093

Aha! Time Computers filed a patent application, for hiding
stuff on a disk using "SET MAX ADDRESS" ATA command. Neat.

http://www.ipexl.com/patents/TIPO_502205.html

So to access that area, would bare minimum, require
changing the declared size of the disk, using the
appropriate ATA command set commands. For example, you
can see an option in this utility to do that, but there
is no point trying it, because what would you do next ?
There would be other steps required, to access whatever is
stored up there.

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html

You would think the BIOS would have a mechanism to access the
hidden area. Is there a function key you press, to reinstall
Windows ? Does the Time Computer come with a user manual that
details their recovery process ? The above info seems to
suggest Time Computer was attempting to sell a recovery CD
for 50 pounds, but that might only be necessary if the
hard drive is broken, and you were installing a new hard drive.
So maybe, if the original hard drive is still working, pressing
some function key will delete the C: drive and return C: to
factory conditions (losing all user data). The copy (image) of
Windows to do that, might be stored "above" the current top
of disk.

The nasty thing about concepts like this, is how do you do a
*full* backup of the hard drive ? Normal tools would't be able
to see that hidden area.

You're certainly getting your money's worth. It's a tough project...

Paul

 

[biarritzsurfer]

I too have a Time PC with a failing hard drive and no Windows XP Home Edition CD
I have tonight ordered a replacement CD from Microsoft for £17.35
go to
https://om.one.microsoft.com/opa/start.om?StoreID=30B288C0-52A6-4AA4-A2BC-2B60DDA37DB1&NewTrans=1&localecode=en-us

Say that CD has been mislaid
Didn't have address for Time Computers but it accepted Time Computers without address.

taken me a week to find this

 

[demdike]

How do I obtain Windows XP Home Edition CD to reinstall Windows Operating
System, as I purchased PC from Time Computers several years ago, and the
Windows Product Key is stamped on the rear of PC. No disc came with machine.

Except for a few early XP laptops, most Time WinXP machines had a
hidden recovery partition on the hard drive, which was unlocked by a
bootable CD. Just which variant of the recovery CD depended on the
model of the machine
These CDs did not contain an image, they were almost blank except for
a boot sector. However Time still charged an additional fee for them.
If you can mail me privately just which model of machine you have, I
should be able to mail you an ISO of the correct disk. The model
number will be on the back - something like 123AB456G7
Once you get the ISO you should be able to burn the CD
However a couple of caveats
1) if the hard drive has been replaced this wont work
2) Time used three different recovery mechanisms on XP machines and if
the wrong disk has already been used, or if the machine has been
reformatted, or converted from FAT32 > NTFS it they may not work

If you can't get a recovery disk to work, the CofA key on the side of
the machine will work with ANY XP OEM installation disk of the correct
windows version, except for those with XP Service pack 3 preinstalled.
Beg or borrow one from a friend - its legal to use as you still have
the CofA

 

[demdike]

Sorry - just saw Paul's last post and thought I'd elucidate further.
May help explain about the hidden image

On their mainstream XP machines Time used three different recovery
mechanisms

Initially they used a hidden partition which - as described to us -
was disguised using a fake partition table. When you booted with the
recovery CD the partition table was temporarily swapped until the next
reboot, allowing access to the recovery image - and subsequent
restoration. The image itself was based on Norton Ghost technology.
Several variants of the recovery disk were used:
v3.5 - the original main release, mainly for WinME and early Vista
machines
v6 - same as 3.5, except it was supposed to retain the internet
settings for your Supanet account (Time's ISP) after the reload
v7 - Supposedly could revert a partition that had been converted to
NTFS back to FAT32 during the reload. Previous versions could not
v8 - special for use with machines with twin 80GB IBM drives
This method was only used on machines with FAT32 drives, and installed
with original XP or XP SP1
Important point to remember with this group of recovery disks is that
if the reload crashes, or you remove the disk during recovery, the MBR
on the drive will be irrecoverably trashed. You'll have to reformat
(but at least you get the entire drive back)


The next method used a bespoke version of Powerquests DriveImage and
was known as T-Clone
This was acquired with the purchase of the assets of the bankrupt Tiny
Computers, and was said to be worth a fortune in avoiding royalties to
Symantec for Ghost
This also had a hidden image, but appeared to use a different
mechanism. In the root of the C-drive was a small folder called "T-
Clone" - and if this folder was deleted the recovery failed. However
this folder did not contain the image.
Several versions of the T-clone disk were released, some under
multiple names. Some only worked on Time machines, orthers on Tiny. I
can't remember exactly then all though these were the key ones
v0.1 - Time System
v0.3 - Tiny Systems (there was also a Collossus v0.3)
v8.3 - ALL Time group brands. V8.3 was also released as V1
This method was used on Tiny branded machines built by Time/Granville,
and on Time systems with Windows XP SP2 preinstalled. It could also
handle and restore NTFS partitions

The final method, used fleetingly before Time went bust was called "T-
Rex"
This used the Windows PE system for the bootdisk., again with a hidden
on-drive partition. It was used as a trial on a few machines we
shipped with XP SP3 installed, but was really a test run for Vista. I
can't remember if Time ever did release Vista before they went bust,
but if they did, the recovery method would be T-Rex
We never got a chance to dissect this one, so don't really know the
underlying mechanism (unless it used Micrsofts disk imaging system?/)

Don't take this a a complete breakdown. Pre XP machines used a variety
of reload methods based either on Ghost, or compressrd RAR files. Some
with visible on-disk images, some with CDs. Some needed boot
floppies,others boot CDs Also laptops with drives of <40GB used
bespoke CD images, sometimes with a boot floppy, sometime a bootable
CD


Happy hunting

Demdike

 

[demdike]

More about it all here at these two European Patents


Storing back-up recovery files on a hidden partition of a disk
http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=GB&NR=2365544

Security system for a hard disk
http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=GB&NR=2367386

I wonder who owns these now? I bet they are something the
Administrators missed!