ChatterBank1 min ago
No Win XP disk to reformat PC.
My computer has recently been freezing for no apparent reason. I've cleaned out the insides with an air cannister but it stills happens.
This isn't a really big problem for me, my only problem is that if I choose to reformat the whole thing and start from scratch I don't have a Windows XP installation CD to do so.
I bought my PC from PC World about 1-2 years ago, and it was the last in stock so it was a display model. They have given me a Microsoft Office installation disk but not a Windows XP disk. At the moment my current OS is Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, but I have got in contact with Microsoft about this and they confused me with their answer.
How would I go about getting a Windows XP MC Ed 2005 installation CD as I've got a legal product key on the side of my PC but I don't have a CD. And I don't really want to buy a new one as I should have had the CD when I bought the PC.
This isn't a really big problem for me, my only problem is that if I choose to reformat the whole thing and start from scratch I don't have a Windows XP installation CD to do so.
I bought my PC from PC World about 1-2 years ago, and it was the last in stock so it was a display model. They have given me a Microsoft Office installation disk but not a Windows XP disk. At the moment my current OS is Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, but I have got in contact with Microsoft about this and they confused me with their answer.
How would I go about getting a Windows XP MC Ed 2005 installation CD as I've got a legal product key on the side of my PC but I don't have a CD. And I don't really want to buy a new one as I should have had the CD when I bought the PC.
Answers
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Have you got any other CDs apart from the MS Office CD ?
Most new PC purchases DONT come with a "proper" Windows XP install CD (Microsoft stopped companies doing it because people were installing their Windows CD on other computers).
What you normally get is a "recovery" CD which is an special image of Windows that will only install on that PC.
Check to see if you have a "recovery" CD.
If not maybe you have a hidden partition on your hard disk that contains the Windows image.
Some companies, rather than supply a Windows recovery CD, put an image of Windows on a hidden partition of your hard disk and you can re-install from that.
Check the documentation that came with your PC to see if it tells you how to do a recovery of Windows.
If neither of these are available to you (the recovery CD or the hidden partition) then you MAY be able to get a recovery CD from the company that makes the PC.
Phone up their help line and see if they can supply you with a recovery CD (or maybe go into PC world).
Most new PC purchases DONT come with a "proper" Windows XP install CD (Microsoft stopped companies doing it because people were installing their Windows CD on other computers).
What you normally get is a "recovery" CD which is an special image of Windows that will only install on that PC.
Check to see if you have a "recovery" CD.
If not maybe you have a hidden partition on your hard disk that contains the Windows image.
Some companies, rather than supply a Windows recovery CD, put an image of Windows on a hidden partition of your hard disk and you can re-install from that.
Check the documentation that came with your PC to see if it tells you how to do a recovery of Windows.
If neither of these are available to you (the recovery CD or the hidden partition) then you MAY be able to get a recovery CD from the company that makes the PC.
Phone up their help line and see if they can supply you with a recovery CD (or maybe go into PC world).
-- answer removed --
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