Lost microsoft xp

[Guest]

Hi

We had problems with the PC and decided to start again from scratch!
Unfortunately I do not have an xp disk as it was installed on my Packard Bell
PC when bought. Can anyone give me advice on what I can do, as I think my
only alternative is to purchase a copy.

Thank you

 

[Gordon]

Hi

We had problems with the PC and decided to start again from scratch!
Unfortunately I do not have an xp disk as it was installed on my Packard
Bell
PC when bought. Can anyone give me advice on what I can do, as I think my
only alternative is to purchase a copy.

Thank you

Packard Bell are obliged to supply you with a method of returning your
machine to its factory-gate state. Consult your user manual on how to do
this.

 

[Petey]

can you boot up in Safe Mode? try tapping f8 at startup (as soon as ANYTHING
appears on screen) this should get you in

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi

We had problems with the PC and decided to start again from scratch!
Unfortunately I do not have an xp disk as it was installed on my Packard Bell
PC when bought. Can anyone give me advice on what I can do, as I think my
only alternative is to purchase a copy.

Thank you

Consult your PC's manual or Packard Bell's support web site to follow
Packard Bell's instructions for returning the computer to its original,
ex-factory state.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

We had problems with the PC and decided to start again from scratch!
Unfortunately I do not have an xp disk as it was installed on my
Packard Bell PC when bought. Can anyone give me advice on what I can
do, as I think my only alternative is to purchase a copy.

OEM vendors are required by their agreement with Microsoft to give you a
means of reinstalling, should it be necessary. They can do this in one of
three ways:

1. An OEM copy of Windows
2. A restore CD
3. A hidden partition on your drive, with restore information.

If you don't have 1 or 2, you should have 3, but you should contact your
documenmtation or your vendor to find out.

Personally, I find both 2 and 3 unacceptable (especially 3; a hard drive
crash can leave you with nothing), and would never choose to buy a computer
that came with an operating system unless I got a complete generic
installation CD for that operating system.

But regarding "starting again from scratch," in my view, it's usually a
mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall
Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I
never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
occasional minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem they
don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's the
perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a
skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs, you
have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to locate
and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize
Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may have
trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can you
find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to restore?
Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may have
installed to make everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that Windows should be reinstalled
cleanly. But they are few and far between; reinstallation should not be a
substitute for troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have
failed.

If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone can help you
and a reinstallation won't be required.

 

[Rock]

can you boot up in Safe Mode? try tapping f8 at startup (as soon as
ANYTHING appears on screen) this should get you in


"Gordon" wrote

How is booting up into safe mode, even assuming his OS will boot, going to
help the OP install XP when they don't have an installation CD?

 

[Curt Christianson]

AMEN !

--
Curt BD-MVBT
http://dundats.mvps.org/
http://dundats.proboards27.com/index.cgi
http://www.aumha.org/
|
| OEM vendors are required by their agreement with Microsoft to give you a
| means of reinstalling, should it be necessary. They can do this in one of
| three ways:
|
| 1. An OEM copy of Windows
| 2. A restore CD
| 3. A hidden partition on your drive, with restore information.
|
| If you don't have 1 or 2, you should have 3, but you should contact your
| documenmtation or your vendor to find out.
|
| Personally, I find both 2 and 3 unacceptable (especially 3; a hard drive
| crash can leave you with nothing), and would never choose to buy a
computer
| that came with an operating system unless I got a complete generic
| installation CD for that operating system.
|
| But regarding "starting again from scratch," in my view, it's usually a
| mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall
| Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
| Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period
of
| time before the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I
| never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
| occasional minor problem.
|
| It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
| people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem
they
| don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's the
| perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
| always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting
(a
| skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).
|
| But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
| restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs,
you
| have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to
locate
| and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to
recustomize
| Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.
|
| Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may
have
| trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can you
| find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to
restore?
| Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may have
| installed to make everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
| problems that are so difficult to solve that Windows should be reinstalled
| cleanly. But they are few and far between; reinstallation should not be a
| substitute for troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done
only
| after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have
| failed.
|
| If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone can help
you
| and a reinstallation won't be required.
|
| --
| Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
| Please reply to the newsgroup
|
|