Lost Disk...Have product key, is there anyway to acquire new disk?

[Guest]

My friend's preinstalled windows Xp Home edition computer crashed (with aid
of a virus) and she no longer has the original cd that came with her
computer. She does have the product key and all the information required to
be legal. I have contacted the computer manufacturer and they said the only
thing to do was buy a new license and disk from a retail store....this
doesn't seem quite right. Anone have any suggestions?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Contact the computer manufacturer and talk to a supervisor
that has a bit more sense. They must provide a means to restore
Windows XP to the PC.

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

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| My friend's preinstalled windows Xp Home edition computer crashed (with aid
| of a virus) and she no longer has the original cd that came with her
| computer. She does have the product key and all the information required to
| be legal. I have contacted the computer manufacturer and they said the only
| thing to do was buy a new license and disk from a retail store....this
| doesn't seem quite right. Anone have any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Well they said that because the computer was no longer under the support
contract, they were no longer in any way responsible for it.....

 

[D.Currie]

Technically, they were probably never responsible for something the customer
lost, but I'd still suggest talking to a supervisor. They probably won't
provide it free, but perhaps they'll sell you one. It would be cheaper than
buying a new version,most likely.

By the way, what brand is it that has this wonderful level of support?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My friend's preinstalled windows Xp Home edition computer crashed
(with aid of a virus) and she no longer has the original cd that came
with her computer. She does have the product key and all the
information required to be legal. I have contacted the computer
manufacturer and they said the only thing to do was buy a new license
and disk from a retail store....this doesn't seem quite right. Anone
have any suggestions?

Technically, if you know if the copy of XP Home was an OEM/Retail/Upgrade
copy, you can COPY an appropriate XP CD and use it..

ie: if she had an OEM version of Windows XP Home - get another (plain) copy
of XP Home OEM and possibly even modify it to include SP2 (slipstream) and
other applications (see http://unattended.msfn.org/ for more on this) and
then use her CD Key to install.

In other words, in essence (and it can be stretched beyond this, but for
simplicity, we'll leave it at this) a retail copy of XP Home is a retail
copy of XP Home - nothing unique other than the CD Key - which is no-where
on the CD itself. In most cases the same can be said for OEM and Upgrade
versions.

 

[StringFellow Hawk]

This may not always work with OEM versions, as most large OEM's, such as
Dell and HP create OEM versions that are BIOS locked, and the Product-Keys
supplied with them will only work on their version of the BIOS locked
software. Just grabbing an off-the-shelf OEM, another manufacturers OEM, or
even the same OEM CD for a different Make/Model PC will not work, and will
result in an invalid supplied Product-Key - but as you make the point, it
doesn't hurt to try, since the OP does have a valid license and Product-Key.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My friend's preinstalled windows Xp Home edition computer crashed
(with aid of a virus) and she no longer has the original cd that
came
with her computer. She does have the product key and all the
information required to be legal. I have contacted the computer
manufacturer and they said the only thing to do was buy a new
license
and disk from a retail store....this doesn't seem quite right.
Anone
have any suggestions?

If it was a retail license and you have proof of purchase:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;326246

If it was an OEM license, you should contact 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

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Star_Fleet_Admiral

This may not always work with OEM versions, as most large OEM's, such
as Dell and HP create OEM versions that are BIOS locked, and the
Product-Keys supplied with them will only work on their version of
the BIOS locked software. Just grabbing an off-the-shelf OEM,
another manufacturers OEM, or even the same OEM CD for a different
Make/Model PC will not work, and will result in an invalid supplied
Product-Key - but as you make the point, it doesn't hurt to try,
since the OP does have a valid license and Product-Key.

Dell does not "BIOS lock" theirs.
HP.. I wouldn't be surprised (nor purchase one) if they did.

I have used Dell OEMs to make copies for valid keys on Gateways and vice
versa.. And the OEM copies you can usually get at legitimate online/offline
stores I have used to make copies for other systems with their keys as well.

With a little knowledge you can pretty much make one CD into oany other type
of CD you need - as long as you stay within your license agreement.