Repairing XP Media Center Edition with an XP home SP2 disc? Safe?

[Indeliblebird]

I have a notebook that came pre-loaded with MCE and that is now starting to
cause me problems (blue screen, various errors, etc.) I had these problems a
few months back and was able to simply do a system restore to solve the
problem, this time however, I cannot restore (all of my system restore points
prior to the middle of last month have disappeared). My dvd-r drive will not
recognize cd or dvd-r media properly (I have avi's saved that it won't pick
up at all), my user accounts except for the administrator account have
disappeared and when I try to remove them they aren't listed. When I try to
re-create them, MCE tells me they already exist. Unfortunately I don't have
the installation disc for this system. I do have a XP home disc that came
with my desktop pc. Can I use this disc to perform a repair for MCE without
any problems for my system?
Also, I was thinking of partitioning my drive and just installing XP Home
because I cannot use MCE with my pro-audio applications. If I do this how do
I select which OS to use and is this safe as well?

 

[neil]

Is there no recovery disk with the system or perhaps a recovery partition,
have you check the documentation that came with the notebook. (and what is
the make & model) As to a repair with XP home, I very much doubt it the two
flavours of windows are very different. Your XP Home disk is for your
desktop only and cannot legally be used to install on your notebook.

Neil

 

[Indeliblebird]

Neil,
Thanks for the response. The notebook is an Acer Aspire 5100. There is no
recovery disk or documentation because I bought it as a floor model. If I am
able to install XP Home, I just want to be sure that it will be partitioned
correctly and that these errors are eliminated because I need use of my
pro-audio applications ASAP. Any suggestions?

 

[neil]

I'm not absolutely sure I think it may depend on the version of the Home
disk (retail or OEM). If you can use the disk it will give you the option to
create a partition in free space, if not install to a different windows
folder. When you boot the PC it should ask which version you want to use.
There should be a recovery partition on the hard drive though that will
restore the system to the factory default. Just remember that your files
will be lost. Check this link from the Acer website. (I found it a bit slow
so it may take a while to download)
http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/data/7117/documents/Acer eRecovery Management.pdf

best of luck
Neil