help installing Windows XP pro on my PCs

[timOleary]

My two desktop computers are screwed up. This one I'm posting this
with is a Dell GX270 I got cheap used.
There are serious issues with the hard drive (reallocation errors &
running hot)
and DOS Seatools says it would be wise to backup and get out now.
I copied the drive over to another, and also attempted a backup, but
do not trust that IU did either properly, and wish as a new year
resolution, develop a backup process that works and is sort of
automatic. Ideally I could maintain this current desktop and work
environment.
I see carbonite as a possible choice, comments would be appreciated.

My other machine which died just before I got the Dell, was custom and
has an ASUS P5WD2-E mb, 4gig of Corsair RAM, modular PSU and the hard
drive smoked.
I want to revive that one too, I feel it owes me.

One of the grandchildren could use the Dell. And I will keep the ASUS.

There was no product Key sticker on the Dell, but I am able to find
the KEY using a little freeware app.
My other machine was commissioned by a technician who has gone bye
bye.
I see XP Pro SP3 disks available on eBay, and am ready to purchase
one.
but unsure which exact product is what I need. I believe it is ethical
to re-use the OEM key on the Dell.
But on the ASUS feel a new key and XP Pro software is appropriate.

I have never installed an OS, but am willing to try.
We have other PCs in the house so if I screw up, I am not out of
business.
I have a couple of CDs with XP Pro on them, but not originals.

Seems for sure I need to buy a couple of new hard drives, which I am
also cool with doing.

I also have three external 500g USB drives on my desk, which are
stable.
They have plenty of room on them.

So I need a step by step "how to".
Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[philo]

My two desktop computers are screwed up. This one I'm posting this
with is a Dell GX270 I got cheap used.
There are serious issues with the hard drive (reallocation errors&
running hot)
and DX.
I want to revive that one too, I feel it owes me.

One of the grandchildren could use the Dell. And I will keep the ASUS.


I also have three external 500g USB drives on my desk, which are
stable.
They have plenty of room on them.

So I need a step by step "how to".
Any help will be much appreciated.

You cannot install XP on an external USB drive
so you will need to replace the internal drives


then look at this

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

 

[timOleary]

You cannot install XP on an external USB drive
so you will need to replace the internal drives

then look at this

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Ken Springer]

My two desktop computers are screwed up. This one I'm posting this
with is a Dell GX270 I got cheap used.
There are serious issues with the hard drive (reallocation errors&
running hot)
and DOS Seatools says it would be wise to backup and get out now.
I copied the drive over to another, and also attempted a backup, but
do not trust that IU did either properly, and wish as a new year
resolution, develop a backup process that works and is sort of
automatic. Ideally I could maintain this current desktop and work
environment.
I see carbonite as a possible choice, comments would be appreciated.

Personally, I would not use Carbonite or any other online storage
system. Not because they don't work, but because I will not put anyone
else in charge of my data. Suppose they get hacked? And your identity
is stolen. Most people will likely blame Carbonite or the online
service of their choice. But the truth is, the blame lies with you, you
chose to put your data there.

Not only that, but from what I see, it's more expensive in the long run.
It costs you $60/ year for the home package, and not all things are
backed up manually. Last Monday, I could have purchased a Western
Digital USB 3TB drive for $103. In less than 2 years of Carbonite, you
will have paid for that drive, and using the free software from the hard
driver manufacturer, you can automatically everything, not just some things.

My other machine which died just before I got the Dell, was custom and
has an ASUS P5WD2-E mb, 4gig of Corsair RAM, modular PSU and the hard
drive smoked.
I want to revive that one too, I feel it owes me.

One of the grandchildren could use the Dell. And I will keep the ASUS.

There was no product Key sticker on the Dell, but I am able to find
the KEY using a little freeware app.
My other machine was commissioned by a technician who has gone bye
bye.
I see XP Pro SP3 disks available on eBay, and am ready to purchase
one.
but unsure which exact product is what I need. I believe it is ethical
to re-use the OEM key on the Dell.

I've seen discussions about what is legal and what isn't. If you want
to know what is and isn't legal, go to Microsoft's site and look up the
EULA and read about the software's allowed use. Be advised, the EULAs's
differ between Home and Pro.

Personally, I follow the EULA, I don't get into the p***ing match about
whether a EULA is legally enforceable or not.

My perspective is, you need that product sticker to be legal. Likely,
you can use the key you found installed. But there is the possibility
that if someone else has that sticker, and is using it on a different
computer, there may be problems when you go to install again, and even
update the the system.

And, you are only allowed to put one copy of the OS on a single
computer, unless you have purchased a site license for multiple installs.

Most people seem to believe they own the OS. They do not. You have a
license to use the OS, ownership rights belong to Microsoft, in the case
of Windows.

But on the ASUS feel a new key and XP Pro software is appropriate.

What was on there originally? The person/company that built the
computer should have given you a dedicated product ID, and disks or a
hidden partition for system restore. If it was me, I would reinstall
that system.

I have never installed an OS, but am willing to try.
We have other PCs in the house so if I screw up, I am not out of
business.
I have a couple of CDs with XP Pro on them, but not originals.

You might be able to use one of those CD's. You'll see a lot of XP
system Cd's for sale that came from Dell, HP, or some other
manufacturer's, and the seller claims the disk will work on any computer.

From my personal experience... Totally wrong. I bought one of those
CD's from an eBay seller, and it has never worked. On a couple
machines, it wouldn't even install.

If you buy a CD, make sure it is a full retail CD. With that install,
you'll have to manually insert the product ID number during the install.
They are scarce, these days. :-(

But... If you have the product ID, you can get a pirated copy of a
retail CD and use it. Technically, the pirated copy is illegal, but
it's also useless without the product ID. I've done this a couple of
time, 100% success.

I've run across these issues for doing what I just suggested...

1. An XP Home product ID will not work with XP Pro, and vice versa.

2. If the product ID is old, and the CD is newer, the install may not
accept the older product ID.

Seems for sure I need to buy a couple of new hard drives, which I am
also cool with doing.

I also have three external 500g USB drives on my desk, which are
stable.
They have plenty of room on them.

It's possible, one of those drives could be used for a backup drive. It
all depends on how much data you have, and the size of the hard drives
in the computers. Assuming one internal drive per computer.

It might be a good idea to see how many duplicate files you have on your
hard drives before actually doing the first backup. I finally got one
of my brothers-in-law to download software to see how many duplicate
files he had. He had one drive that had 150k+ files on it. When he ran
the software, he discovered that over 100k+ files were duplicates. In
some cases, there were 4,5, 6, or more copies of the same file. Imagine
how much space on the hard drive and the back up hard drive was wasted.

 

[timOleary]

Personally, I would not use Carbonite or any other online storage
system.  Not because they don't work, but because I will not put anyone
else in charge of my data.  Suppose they get hacked?  And your identity
is stolen.  Most people will likely blame Carbonite or the online
service of their choice.  But the truth is, the blame lies with you, you
chose to put your data there.

Not only that, but from what I see, it's more expensive in the long run.
  It costs you $60/ year for the home package, and not all things are
backed up manually.  Last Monday, I could have purchased a Western
Digital USB 3TB drive for $103.  In less than 2 years of Carbonite, you
will have paid for that drive, and using the free software from the hard
driver manufacturer, you can automatically everything, not just some things.




I've seen discussions about what is legal and what isn't.  If you want
to know what is and isn't legal, go to Microsoft's site and look up the
EULA and read about the software's allowed use.  Be advised, the EULAs's
differ between Home and Pro.

Personally, I follow the EULA, I don't get into the p***ing  match about
whether a EULA is legally enforceable or not.

My perspective is, you need that product sticker to be legal.  Likely,
you can use the key you found installed.  But there is the possibility
that if someone else has that sticker, and is using it on a different
computer, there may be problems when you go to install again, and even
update the the system.

And, you are only allowed to put one copy of the OS on a single
computer, unless you have purchased a site license for multiple installs.

Most people seem to believe they own the OS.  They do not.  You have a
license to use the OS, ownership rights belong to Microsoft, in the case
of Windows.


What was on there originally?  The person/company that built the
computer should have given you a dedicated product ID, and disks or a
hidden partition for system restore.  If it was me, I would reinstall
that system.


You might be able to use one of those CD's.  You'll see a lot of XP
system Cd's for sale that came from Dell, HP, or some other
manufacturer's, and the seller claims the disk will work on any computer.

 From my personal experience...  Totally wrong.  I bought one of those
CD's from an eBay seller, and it has never worked.  On a couple
machines, it wouldn't even install.

If you buy a CD, make sure it is a full retail CD.  With that install,
you'll have to manually insert the product ID number during the install.
  They are scarce, these days.  :-(

But...  If you have the product ID, you can get a pirated copy of a
retail CD and use it.  Technically, the pirated copy is illegal, but
it's also useless without the product ID.  I've done this a couple of
time, 100% success.

I've run across these issues for doing what I just suggested...

1.  An XP Home product ID will not work with XP Pro, and vice versa.

2.  If the product ID is old, and the CD is newer, the install may not
accept the older product ID.



It's possible, one of those drives could be used for a backup drive.  It
all depends on how much data you have, and the size of the hard drives
in the computers.  Assuming one internal drive per computer.

It might be a good idea to see how many duplicate files you have on your
hard drives before actually doing the first backup.  I finally got one
of my brothers-in-law to download software to see how many duplicate
files he had.  He had one drive that had 150k+ files on it.  When he ran
the software, he discovered that over 100k+ files were duplicates.  In
some cases, there were 4,5, 6, or more copies of the same file.  Imagine
how much space on the hard drive and the back up hard drive was wasted.

Thanks I appreciate your perspective and detailed information. I had a
WD external HDD once and the usb interface died and all my data was
trapped in the product. WD responded I would loose my data if I sent
it back to them, and the data recovery was astronomically high. So I
cracked the case open, removed the HDD, went to Best Buy and bought an
external case, and the HDD was intact, and I was able to use it for a
long time. I think it is on my wife's PC now.
Since then I have been buying hard drives and cases and rolling my
own. There are sure some great deals on those externals, but the key
is the backup software. I will think more about this situation. there
are backup programs offered, but I do not know which one is one for
me. The one I want would enable me to make a copy (backup?) of this
machine, then once I got a healthy hard drive installed restore my
files, programs, desktop etc to the new hard drive.
Interesting details on the Windows software.
Good point about the hologram stickers, and also compatibility of
various eBay offerings.

To answer your question about what was the OS on my custom PC, I do
not know what he used. I gave him a box of CDs, and told him to do
what was necessary to get the computer going. He may have used a CD
copy of XP corporate. I do not know what that actually is, do you?

Thanks again for the detailed and thoughtful information

 

[Ken Springer]

Since then I have been buying hard drives and cases and rolling my
own. There are sure some great deals on those externals, but the key
is the backup software. I will think more about this situation. there
are backup programs offered, but I do not know which one is one for
me. The one I want would enable me to make a copy (backup?) of this
machine, then once I got a healthy hard drive installed restore my
files, programs, desktop etc to the new hard drive.

I've not made a definitive study of backup software, but I'd think they
would all do the basics.

What you need to do is analyze what you want to do, and then find a
program that does it. You may end up using trial versions of a number
of programs until you find one that fits your wishes.

It does seem that all the free backup software are cut down versions of
Acronis True Image. That tells me that True Image is near or at the top
of the heat. That is where I'd start. But don't just stop there, also
check out the numerous open source programs, you might find what you
want and it will be free.

He may have used a CD
copy of XP corporate. I do not know what that actually is, do you?

I don't know either, but I found this site:
http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t182625-win-xp-corporate-version.html
The thread is old, so I don't know how much of it is still accurate.

Thanks again for the detailed and thoughtful information

You're welcome.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.
LibreOffice 3.3.4

 

[timOleary]

I've not made a definitive study of backup software, but I'd think they
would all do the basics.

What you need to do is analyze what you want to do, and then find a
program that does it.  You may end up using trial versions of a number
of programs until you find one that fits your wishes.

It does seem that all the free backup software are cut down versions of
Acronis True Image.  That tells me that True Image is near or at the top
of the heat.  That is where I'd start.  But don't just stop there, also
check out the numerous open source programs, you might find what you
want and it will be free.


I don't know either, but I found this site:http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t182625-win-xp-corporate-versio...
  The thread is old, so I don't know how much of it is still accurate.


You're welcome.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.
LibreOffice 3.3.4

cool.
I got int a big argument with true image a few years ago when I
thought a free trial ver of the sw messed up my PC. I was annoyed that
all the tech support was offshore and language was a barrier.
But your thoughts are good ones and I will re-address.

 

[Ken Springer]

I got int a big argument with true image a few years ago when I
thought a free trial ver of the sw messed up my PC. I was annoyed that
all the tech support was offshore and language was a barrier.
But your thoughts are good ones and I will re-address.

It pains me to say this, but it seems most of the really good software
is from off shore. :-( Even MS's technical support is in New Delhi,
India. That's because the US simply doesn't have the workers with the
needed knowledge.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.
LibreOffice 3.3.4

 

[timOleary]

I've not made a definitive study of backup software, but I'd think they
would all do the basics.

What you need to do is analyze what you want to do, and then find a
program that does it.  You may end up using trial versions of a number
of programs until you find one that fits your wishes.

It does seem that all the free backup software are cut down versions of
Acronis True Image.  That tells me that True Image is near or at the top
of the heat.  That is where I'd start.  But don't just stop there, also
check out the numerous open source programs, you might find what you
want and it will be free.


I don't know either, but I found this site:http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t182625-win-xp-corporate-versio...
  The thread is old, so I don't know how much of it is still accurate.


You're welcome.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.
LibreOffice 3.3.4

Hello again Ken:

Acronis Home 2012 has many features, one of which they call clone,
which they say is for sending a hard drive's contents to a new drive,
so the OS does not need to be re-installed. I need to study it further
so I am certain it is what I need.
The software also has a ton of backup/restore options all of which are
appealing. Single user license is $49.95, maybe less from a reseller.
Their website has improved significantly since my last visit. They
have a on-line backup service which costs the same as carbonite. But
your comments re online backup are true. I saw plenty of external
storage units which have s/w bundled, but I know the hdds are not top
of the line, and the s/w is an Acronis knockoff. The part about the
hdds is my opinion, the part about the s/w was your comment.
Thanks

 

[timOleary]

Hello again Ken:

Acronis Home 2012 has many features, one of which they call clone,
which they say is for sending a hard drive's contents to a new drive,
so the OS does not need to be re-installed. I need to study it further
so I am certain it is what I need.
The software also has a ton of backup/restore options all of which are
appealing. Single user license is $49.95, maybe less from a reseller.
Their website has improved significantly since my last visit. They
have a on-line backup service which costs the same as carbonite. But
your comments re online backup are true. I saw plenty of external
storage units which have s/w bundled, but I know the hdds are not top
of the line, and the s/w is an Acronis knockoff. The part about the
hdds is my opinion, the part about the s/w was your comment.
Thanks

Acronis says that cloning a damaged drive such as mine will only move
the issue over to the new drive, which I do not understand. Windows is
trying to use bad sectors on the drive, and has to work within a
smaller portion of the hdd than it expects based on what was there
when Windows was installed, To me, you clone over to a fresh drive,
and Windows is expecting the same space form the original set up.
Since the sectors are all OK, it will use them. Why am I wrong?

 

[Char Jackson]

Acronis says that cloning a damaged drive such as mine will only move
the issue over to the new drive, which I do not understand.

It depends on what actual problems your current drive has. If there is
any file corruption or malware infection, for example, cloning will
move those problems to the new drive.

If the only problem is some bad sectors and no data was lost or
corrupted as a result, then cloning might be fine. For me, ultimate
peace of mind comes from NOT cloning when my confidence level is low.

 

[Mikey]

It pains me to say this, but it seems most of the really good software is from off
shore. :-( Even MS's technical support is in New Delhi, India. That's because the US
simply doesn't have the workers with the needed knowledge.

I don't believe that for a second. It's about money. Enough people buy a product to
make lousy support a viable option for the company.

 

[Ken Springer]

Hi, Mikey,

I don't believe that for a second. It's about money. Enough people buy a product to
make lousy support a viable option for the company.

If you watch the news reports about the jobs and the economy, there are
lots of jobs out there currently. But there are not any workers with
the skills to match. The more high tech the job, the fewer qualified
American workers there are.

Yes, it is cheaper overseas, but the talent pool is also larger. And
that cost advantage is going to stay until the "playing" field is
leveler. I saw this effect coming 20 years ago. Not because I'm
smarter than anyone else, but because it's the logical outcome of
increasing globalization.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 9.0.1
Thunderbird 9.0.1
LibreOffice 3.4.4