Reinstalling XP Home on Laptop 3

[rocmills]

Hoping one of you can answer a seemingly simple question for me... One of my co-workers bought a laptop from Circuit City and it came with XP Home pre-installed. CC did not give him a restore disk, but he does have an authentic Windows sticker and keycode on the back of the laptop. He now wants his computer completely wiped - reformat, reinstall - but he doesn't have any disks.

The question is this: Can I use any old version of Home I happen to have lying around so long as I enter the keycode from the back of the laptop?

I don't want to get halfway through a reformat and reinstall only to have the system reject me because I am not installing an OEM version of the OS.

Thank you!

--Roc
"Whatever one man can dream, another can accomplish" - Jules Verne

 

[Beowulf005]

Have you checked the Laptop for a restore setting? Most newer computer have the restore software where you can burn it to a cd then you have the media. Other have a special key combo when starting that will restore the system to the factory startup. Call the OEM of the laptop.

When frustrated remember, in the computer world there is almost always a backdoor.

 

[muthabored]

Who's the manufacturer of the laptop?

As Beowulf005 has indicated, not all laptops/desktops ship with restore CDs but come with a restore partition (usually hidden) in the event the system needs restoring.

Also, any old operating system product key will not work with any old operating system CD, even if the product key is "for" that operating system. PCs/laptops that come with an OEM copy of Windows are generally only good for that machine.

 

[erikhertzel]

Most new PC's have a partition that you can access from the BIOS to do a clean restore of XP (the preload).

Go to the manufacturer's website and go to the online support and go to the specific laptop and check the knowledge base or call them to find out what the key sequence is. It may be something Alt+F12

Hope that helps,

Erik

 

[rocmills]

Thanks for the prompt replies, everyone!

I will check with coworker tomorrow; check the laptop manufacturer's site, etc. I've never worked with laptops before, so I was unaware of the hidden partion trick. Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again!

--Roc
"Whatever one man can dream, another can accomplish" - Jules Verne

 

[rocmills]

Thanks again, everyone!

I did the F10 at boot thing and it took me straight into a recovery/restore program. Laptop is good as new!

--Roc
"Whatever one man can dream, another can accomplish" - Jules Verne