Windows XP came with my E-Machine and I had to rebuild the Box...How do I get

[chinho2004earthlink.net]

I bought one of those damn E-Machines that came with
Windows XP... The E-Machine power pack crapped out and
when a friend transfered the E-Machine hard-drive and
various other parts into a new case, the XP OS got lost.
How can I get the XP back, which I obviously paid for,
without a new disc? I don't want to backtrack even more
and lose what little of my programs, etc, my friend
managed to save... and he says that I need a disc to get
XP back. Is he full of crap? He's got me using Windows
2000 now, and I feel like a caveman -- Is there a way to
just upgrade to XP without ripping my machine apart again
or putting more of my money into Bill Gates' pocket?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

The eMachine Windows XP Restore procedure will only
work with the original eMachine hardware configuration.
Now that you have changed the hardware, the eMachine
Restore procedure will not work, so the only thing you
can do is go out and purchase a conventional "Retail Version"
of Windows XP.

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

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

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


|I bought one of those damn E-Machines that came with
| Windows XP... The E-Machine power pack crapped out and
| when a friend transfered the E-Machine hard-drive and
| various other parts into a new case, the XP OS got lost.
| How can I get the XP back, which I obviously paid for,
| without a new disc? I don't want to backtrack even more
| and lose what little of my programs, etc, my friend
| managed to save... and he says that I need a disc to get
| XP back. Is he full of crap? He's got me using Windows
| 2000 now, and I feel like a caveman -- Is there a way to
| just upgrade to XP without ripping my machine apart again
| or putting more of my money into Bill Gates' pocket?

 

[Phil]

You cannot transfer your oem, preinstalled xp to another machine. According
to the ms eula oem versions are non-transferable. Also if it most likely
bios locked so it will not install or run on another motherboard. If you
built a new machine, then you have to buy a retail version of xp and install
it. This is one of the many downfalls of buying oem computers.

 

[kurttrail]

I bought one of those damn E-Machines that came with
Windows XP... The E-Machine power pack crapped out and
when a friend transfered the E-Machine hard-drive and
various other parts into a new case, the XP OS got lost.
How can I get the XP back, which I obviously paid for,
without a new disc? I don't want to backtrack even more
and lose what little of my programs, etc, my friend
managed to save... and he says that I need a disc to get
XP back. Is he full of crap? He's got me using Windows
2000 now, and I feel like a caveman -- Is there a way to
just upgrade to XP without ripping my machine apart again
or putting more of my money into Bill Gates' pocket?

Borrow a copy of XP OEM [If you have XP Home, then you need to borrow a copy
of OEM Home, if you have XP Pro then you need OEM XP Pro] and use the
Product Key, that should be on a sticker somewhere on your eMachine case,
and install XP with your key. And then activate it. More than likely, it
will go through over the internet, but if not take the phone option to
activate.

The following link will give some idea on how to handle PA phone reps
http://microscum.com/mmpafaq/

To become a MVP like Carey Frisch
http://microscum.com/crapolammpafaq/

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei!"

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Put the hard drive back into the eMachine case, replace the power
supply, and you'll be golden. You cannot use the OEM license, for
which you paid a great deal less than you would have had to pay for a
transferable retail license, that came pre-installed with the eMachine
on any other computer. An OEM version must be sold with a piece of
hardware
(normally a motherboard or hard rive, if not an entire PC) and is
_permanently_ bound to the first PC on which it's installed. An OEM
license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
computer under _any_ circumstances.


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

 

[D.Currie]

I bought one of those damn E-Machines that came with
Windows XP... The E-Machine power pack crapped out and
when a friend transfered the E-Machine hard-drive and
various other parts into a new case, the XP OS got lost.
How can I get the XP back, which I obviously paid for,
without a new disc? I don't want to backtrack even more
and lose what little of my programs, etc, my friend
managed to save... and he says that I need a disc to get
XP back. Is he full of crap? He's got me using Windows
2000 now, and I feel like a caveman -- Is there a way to
just upgrade to XP without ripping my machine apart again
or putting more of my money into Bill Gates' pocket?

If the power supply died and all you did was put it in a new case, the
e-machines software should still work on your computer, and if that's all
that was changed, the OS shouldn't have gotten "lost" it should have booted
up as normal.

On the other hand, the only way your "friend" could have put win2k on your
computer was to format the drive, which would have lost all of your stuff.
And which was completely unnecessary, unless there's more to it than you've
described. And if he attempted to "save" programs for reinstallation later,
that doesn't work. Programs have to be installed for them to work. Let's
hope you have installation disks for those.

The only thing I can see that he was right about was that you need an XP
disk of some sort. You might not have needed it before you started, but now
you do.

You should have gotten restore CDs from e-machines. If you didn't change the
motherboard, they should work just fine. The case and power supply aren't
critical as far as the computer recognizing the CD. If he changed anything
else, the disks might or might not work.

By the way, that version of XP that you paid for isn't worth nearly as much
(nor did you pay as much) as a retail or generic oem copy. So if you've lost
the use of it, it's NOT like you lost a $200 program, it's more like you
lost a $20 program.