XP Install problem

[Lightnin06478]

I have a Gateway laptop that came pre-loaded with XP (about 2 years ago). It
didn't come with disks. I decided to re-format and found that the recovery
drive is bad. I do have the product key (sticker on bottom of laptop). I do
have 2 other XP disks but, they are registered to my kids machines. Can I
use another XP disk and put in my product ID or, do I have to spend $200 on
another disk?

Thanks

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Gateway should be able to help you restore your machine to 'factory
defaults' at least. Contact their support for info.

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Mark L. Ferguson

..

 

[Lightnin06478]

Thank you for trying to help!! Now, for my rant.... Gateway is of no help
either. Too many runarounds. Believe it or not, I was going to buy a
license online for my crippled machine. But, after looking at the $184 price
tag, I decided against it. Are you kidding? An OS which is outdated!!!
Microsoft is never of any help unless, your willing to dump (can you guess?)
TONS of money. I have been using computers for over 25 years. I'm not a
novice, nor a programmer, just a user. I have, however, looked into a Mac.
Not just because of this issue but, for many, many, many issues in the past.
This was the LAST straw!!

 

[Daave]

I have a Gateway laptop that came pre-loaded with XP (about 2 years
ago). It didn't come with disks. I decided to re-format and found
that the recovery drive is bad. I do have the product key (sticker
on bottom of laptop). I do have 2 other XP disks but, they are
registered to my kids machines. Can I use another XP disk and put in
my product ID or, do I have to spend $200 on another disk?

This shouldn't cost you much (or anything at all). What is the
model/number of your Gateway?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I have a Gateway laptop that came pre-loaded with XP (about 2 years ago).
It
didn't come with disks. I decided to re-format and found that the
recovery
drive is bad. I do have the product key (sticker on bottom of laptop). I
do
have 2 other XP disks but, they are registered to my kids machines. Can I
use another XP disk and put in my product ID or, do I have to spend $200
on
another disk?

Thanks

You have discovered the fatal flaw in the Recovery Partion scheme. This is
intended to save perhaps a dollar for the vendor, at the expense of the
consumer -- when a drive fails, all partitions are equally inaccessible.

Most Recovery Partition systems, for this reason, have an option for the
user to spend that dollar themselves and burn the recovery program to CD
themselves. It should be a requirement, but it isn't. So, many people
don't perform this step, and when the drive fails, they have to replace the
drive AND pay for a new license if the vendor won't or can't supply restore
media. This can easily put replacement costs to over $200 for the sake of
$1 in original costs.

You can only use another identical type XP CD, which means another Gateway
OEM CD with your key. Other disks will reject your key.

Your options at this point are to contact Gateway for recovery media (the
disk set), for which you should expect to pay something; to purchase a new
XP license; or to find another source for the recovery media. There's a
company at http://restoredisks.com/ that specialises in these. You might
pay $50 or so, last time I checked. That may be competitive with
replacement media from Gateway, and perhaps better service. I have to add
that I have never actually dealt with this company.

But wait, there's more!

If you decided you needed to format and reinstall, you probably had a
reason to do so. If you then also found that the Recovery Partition was
damaged, it may well be that the two are linked to defects on the disk,
which in that case should be replaced (which again renders the Recovery
Partition meaningless). Attach the drive via an inexpensive USB2 drive
case to another working XP system and scan it for defects before using it
again.

Finally, you do need to go to the Gateway support site and download all the
drivers for your laptop model. If you use a retail XP license, these
drivers will *not* be on the XP CD. You will install these drivers
immediately after the basic XP install completes. Recovery disks should
include them.

HTH
-pk

 

[Daave]

You can only use another identical type XP CD, which means another
Gateway OEM CD with your key. Other disks will reject your key.

Wouldn't a generic OEM installation CD work? This is assuming the OP
uses the key on the COA, not the one from a keyfinder program (if this
were even possible).