Procuring a copy of windows for legaly owned liscence.

[luciusad2004]

Hey guys, I have a netbook that had windows XP installed and recently my hard drived "crashed." My laptop didn't come with an XP oem disk but I do have the sticker on the bottom of it claiming that I have a license of windows xp. Does anyone know if there is anyway to obtain that copy of XP or am I SOL. Do I technically own that license or is it a one time shot and if my hardware dies its my problem not theirs?

If I can obtain the copy of xp I want it but if not I'll just try windows 7 on it, I hear it runs surprisingly good on netbooks anyway.

[x88x]

Yes and no. Technically you're not supposed to move the license sticker, so it's kinda-sorta-ish tied to the case. IDK about XP, but in the Vista OEM EULA it specifies that the license is tied to the MBB. Either way, if it's just throwing a new HDD in, then yeah, no problem; just..*ehem*..acquire.. a copy of a disk (in and of itself not against any laws/etc that I know of) and use the license number on the sticker. All completely within the terms of your license.

I would encourage you to try 7 though; it's pretty awesome, and yeah, as long as you have a GB or two of RAM, runs just fine on the standard netbook hardware.

[luciusad2004]

I've currently got a GB and now that I've torn the thing Open it would be no issue to upgrade to 1.5 GB, that's as High as it goes though. Maybe I'll just go with Seven and if that doesn't work out there's always Ubuntu. After all, XP does need to die eventually...

[Datech]

What x88x said is right I believe, just get a copy and use that license key, it should work. Also, have you tried calling the netbook manufacturer and asking them? Companies like Dell will almost always send you the OS and driver disk if you ask.

However, if you have a legal means of acquiring 7, go for it and don't look back.

[luciusad2004]

What x88x said is right I believe, just get a copy and use that license key, it should work. Also, have you tried calling the netbook manufacturer and asking them? Companies like Dell will almost always send you the OS and driver disk if you ask.

However, if you have a legal means of acquiring 7, go for it and don't look back.

I have the 7 release candidate and I'm pretty sure i read that its good for like, a year. After a year it will start to shutdown every 2 hours or something silly like that until you purchase a retail copy. I think the RC can be installed on as many comps as I want, or at least a handful. I know its more than one.

[x88x]

It's at some point in March or April 2010 that it starts that 2-hour thing; then on (iirc) July 31st, it dies completely.

[luciusad2004]

It's at some point in March or April 2010 that it starts that 2-hour thing; then on (iirc) July 31st, it dies completely.

Yeah, Plenty of time to save up for a retail copy.

[Crazy Buddhist]

What x88x said is right I believe, just get a copy and use that license key, it should work. Also, have you tried calling the netbook manufacturer and asking them? Companies like Dell will almost always send you the OS and driver disk if you ask.

If the machine did not ship with disks and the recovery partition has been wiped then usually you can get a copy of the disks to do an install but it will cost you a few $ (£25 for my Compaq). Often these are sold by partner companies to the OEM manufacturer.

It's also uncertain that using a disk from another OEM manufacturer or the original windows disk will let you activate using the key on your machine.

CrazyB

[BuzzKillington]

Just download it. You have a license so what's wrong with picking it up from a torrent? A license is yours. You paid for it when you purchased the computer otherwise M$ wouldn't offer free recovery software to create backup disks.

EDIT: 1000th post. lol

[Datech]

It's also uncertain that using a disk from another OEM manufacturer or the original windows disk will let you activate using the key on your machine

Correct. If you use a Windows XP Pro for Small Business CD, your key won't activate, same if you used a Compaq CD on a Dell machine. If he finds the correct XP installation his key has a decent chance of working though. Sometimes it will let you install XP with your key, then when you hit activation it will refuse and you will have to call Microsoft and tell them your mobo crashed and you had to reformat.

For me, that last method has worked 100% of the time with about 15 attempts, lol.

[x88x]

Correct. If you use a Windows XP Pro for Small Business CD, your key won't activate, same if you used a Compaq CD on a Dell machine. If he finds the correct XP installation his key has a decent chance of working though.
From my experience, this is becoming increasingly rare; maybe as more and more manufacturers realize it's cheaper to make things easy :P Just make sure you don't get a volume license version, and make sure the install disc is the same SP level as the license, and it should work.


Sometimes it will let you install XP with your key, then when you hit activation it will refuse and you will have to call Microsoft and tell them your mobo crashed and you had to reformat.

I used to try and explain the situation, but after a few times sitting on the phone for 20+ minutes trying to explain what broke and why that meant I had to re-install, and that, yes, this license has been used before, but only on the computer I'm installing it on...yeah...now I just say "Yes, it's only installed on one computer.", and things go on their merry way.

Also, watch what you tell them if you have to call them for a Vista OEM key; those are tied to the MBB, so if you tell them your MBB died, if they're feeling picky, they'll tell you that you're out of luck.

[Datech]

About three years ago they implemented an automated system for the XP telephone activation. You basically said yes to 'Was there a hardware failure?' and yes to 'Was it the HDD or mobo?' and the computer read you off a code.

Never had to try it on Vista though. I started working for an MSDN member and Gold Certified Partner about two years ago so I basically have unlimited access to valid product keys, hehe.

[x88x]

Huh, interesting; come to think of it, I haven't had to call one in for about 3 years..that's pretty cool.

[slaveofconvention]

FYI - the MAC code of the network adapter is one of the highest scoring items when the software is trying to identify if it's the same PC or not - I've always found "I replaced the old network card with a gigabit one" to work flawlessly - and I'm talking dozens of times here, not just a few...