reinstallation problem

[philly lawyer]

I had Windows XP Home edition installed on my computer and
had to uninstall it because it was not functioning due to
some kind of corruption or virus (I never did figure out
what caused the problem.) When I tried to reinstall it
from the disk, I had problems and concluded that the disk
had become corrupted. I want to contact Microsoft to
inquire about getting a replacement installation disk, but
they require the product ID number when you try to e-mail
or call them for information, which apparently can only be
found when the product is installed on the computer.
Obviously, since it is now uninstalled, I cannot do that.
Any suggestions on how I can resolve this problem? thanks
for any help. (By the way, I cannot use the product ID
for my old operating system which I am now stuck with
because it is that miserable Windows ME and they no longer
offer any support for that piece of crap.)

 

[Phil]

What were the re-install problems? Error messages?
What makes you think the cd is damaged?

 

[philly lawyer]

Actually, I don't recall at the moment exactly what it
said, but there was some kind of error message. But when
I called Dell for help (I obviously have a Dell and they
were very helpful, unlike Microsoft) the technician was
the person who suggested that the disk was damaged in some
way. I had gotten stuck halfway through the
reinstallation and could not either finish the reinstall
or go back to ME. I had to wipe out my hard drive data
and reinstall ME. (I wasn't about to try the XP reinstall
again.)

 

[Mousey Mick]

Sounds to me like the Dell technician copped out 'cause he
couldn't resolve the issue. If you don't see any physical
damage to the CD, there probably isn't any . . .

 

[Ken]

I'm guessing you have and an XP upgrade disk.
If so I would try to start over with clean reformatted
hard drive & just install Windows XP. During Install it
will ask for verification or something like that, then
just put in your original ME disk.
I've had failed installs of XP Pro before so I would try
again and every thing worker OK.

 

[Phil]

Sounds like a tech cop out to me. The "tech" couldn't fix it so he made
something up to get you off the phone.(You do know that tech support calls
are timed and most companies want their techs to get the person off the
phone in ten minutes or less even if the problem is not fixed. The techs who
go places in the company are the ones who have the lowest call times, not
the ones who fix the most problems. I worked in such a center for a while so
I know first hand.) If the cd doesn't look scatched, then it probably fine.
More likely is you may have hardware or software that xp wasn't liking.
Since you have ME installed now, pop the xp cd in and run the compatibility
wizard. See what it says. If it's good, install xp and make sure to do a
Full(clean)install. Make sure to format the drive during xp setup.