My old hard drive has just seen its last days i.e blew up so I've gone out
and bought a new hard drive today. How do I get windows xp ont o the new hard
drive? What do I need and where do I get it from (if I need a cd)?
Did Windows come preinstalled on your computer? If so did they not
give you a CD?
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 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.
If you didn't get a CD, you probably fell into situation 3 above, and
are the perfect example of why I wouldn't buy the machine you did.
Contact the company who made your computer, and ask them how to
proceed. They *may* be able/willing to help you, or they may not. If
they aren't, unfortunately your only choice will be to buy a whole new
copy of Windows.
