XP Home Packard Bell laptop, total hard drive failure, no Windows XP Home CD but valid licence key o

[Derek]

Dear Group,

A friend has asked me to fix his laptop, the hard drive has failed
completely. I've tried it in other pc's and none even recognise that it's
connected in the BIOS. Purchased a replacement hard drive, installed it,
and now I'm stuck.

It had Windows XP Home, still has the licence key sticker on reverse. He
doesn't have the CD because he thinks he was supposed to burn a disc but
"never got round to it". What can I do?

I've sent Packardbell Support an email asking what they recommend, so far
just an automated reply saying they will get back to me.

My brother has a fujitsu siemens XP Home cd, I am going to try using that to
install, but I'm guessing their will be an error or something since it's not
Packard Bell, is that the case or will this work?

Do I need to find someone near me with a Packard Bell XP Home cd?

Can I download this version of Windows XP Home from the internet and install
using the valid key on reverse of laptop? If it prechecked the valid key
then I don't see why not, but I doubt this is available.

I look forward to the replies, thanks.

 

[David B.]

I won't go into the legalities of download Windows from the web, but you
need to get your hands on a Microsoft XP Home OEM cd, this will allow you to
reinstall with the product key on the COA sticker, not likely the Seimens
disk will work.

 

[Bob Lucas]

Dear Group,

A friend has asked me to fix his laptop, the hard drive has failed
completely. I've tried it in other pc's and none even recognise that
it's connected in the BIOS. Purchased a replacement hard drive,
installed it, and now I'm stuck.

It had Windows XP Home, still has the licence key sticker on reverse.
He doesn't have the CD because he thinks he was supposed to burn a
disc but "never got round to it". What can I do?

I've sent Packardbell Support an email asking what they recommend, so
far just an automated reply saying they will get back to me.

My brother has a fujitsu siemens XP Home cd, I am going to try using
that to install, but I'm guessing their will be an error or something
since it's not Packard Bell, is that the case or will this work?

Do I need to find someone near me with a Packard Bell XP Home cd?

Can I download this version of Windows XP Home from the internet and
install using the valid key on reverse of laptop? If it prechecked
the valid key then I don't see why not, but I doubt this is available.

I look forward to the replies, thanks.

I don't recommend trying a Fujitsu Siemens XP home CD. I suspect that
brother may have a system restore CD (as opposed to a full Windows XP
installation CD), which uses data on the recovery partition on the
Fujitsu Siemens computer. If it is a system restore disk, it won't work
on a Packard Bell. Furthermore, you will need to obtain and install the
correct hardware drivers for the Packard Bell laptop.

Even if you could to obtain a genuine Microsoft installation disk for
Windows XP home Edition, you would still require the correct drivers for
the Packard Bell hardware. Furthermore, your new hard drive might need
to be to be configured with a recovery partition and a main partition
for the operating system, programs and user data. You really should use
a genuine Packard Bell installation disk, or send the laptop to Packard
Bell for a new hard drive.

Packard Bell have sent an automated response to your email. When?
Don't despair because depending upon the workload at Packard Bell, you
may need to wait a while for a definitive reply.

If Packard Bell don't respond within a reasonable timescale, try
telephoning them. You may be able to obtain a contact number from their
website at http://www.packardbell.com/contactus.htm.

I have one other suggestion. Your newsgroup headers suggest that you
posted your enquiry from the UK. If you are in the UK, most Packard
Bell products are sold through PC World and Currys Digital (part of the
DSG group of companies) "big sheds". Technical support is available
through any branch of PC World - at a price. However, laptop repairs at
PC World are not cheap and I am sure they would prefer to sell a new
laptop!