Windows xp home reformat/reinstall

[Guest]

I purchased my computer a while ago with windows xp home preinstalled. I
have the key code for my version of windows on a sticker on the side of my
computer. I didn't recieve a windows xp cd with my computer,so can I use a
windows xp home upgrade cd and just enter in the key code for windows that
came with my computer when I boot form the cd to do a reformat reinstall?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Andre Da Costa]

The binaries for Windows retail and home are different. Contact your PC
manufacturer on how to obtain a OEM installation disk for your PC.

Its also possibility that its not acutally a Windows installation disk but a
System Restore disk instead, look for that.

Andre Da Costa

 

[Bob Knowlden]

I haven't verified this by personal experience, but I believe that the
product key must match the type of installation CD. If the XP copy was OEM,
I expect that you'd need an OEM CD of the same type, and the key would not
work with a retail disk, full or upgrade.

Does your system have XP on a recovery partition? I believe that PC makers
are required by Microsoft to provide some means of re-installing the OS if
the need arises. A recovery partition (common on HP systems, I think) would
be less satisfactory to me than a CD, but it may do what you need. Contact
the machine's maker for the details. (HP used to offer recovery CDs at a
fairly nominal price. Perhaps other makers do so as well. I'd prefer a real
OS installation disk, even a BIOS-locked one, as I've seen from Dell.)

Good luck

Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I purchased my computer a while ago with windows xp home preinstalled. I
have the key code for my version of windows on a sticker on the side of my
computer. I didn't recieve a windows xp cd with my computer,so can I use a
windows xp home upgrade cd and just enter in the key code for windows that
came with my computer when I boot form the cd to do a reformat reinstall?

No. The keys form different series, and can only be used with with the
matching installation software. So you need media from the maker of the
machine. They are required to provide a means of reinstalling to 'ex
factory state'. If they gave you no CD at all it is likely that the
files are hidden on the Hard disk and got at by hitting a hot key like
F10 at power on. Consult the manual, if it does not help, ask the
makers