XP licence question

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cyril7

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#19760 29-Feb-2008 12:25

Hi, I have just been asked to sort a 2-3yr old PC that has a XP home edition licence (which is appropriately stuck on the case). It appears the hard disc has died and I understand that the backup and XP source disc were on a partition of the disc.

Problem is I only have CDs with XP pro, is it possible to use the XP pro disc and presumably when I load the licence code on the case the install only load a Home edition install.

Just to be clear here I am not wanting to steal any licence or gain anything not rightfully owned by the PC, I just want to acheive a Home Edition install with a Pro CD and Home Edition Licence.

Is this possible, or do I need to obtain a Home Ed CD.

Cyril

freitasm

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#113753 29-Feb-2008 12:30

Unlike Windows Vista, Windows XP comes with different CDs for different editions.

If the license is stuck on the case then you probably have an OEM license. The PC should have a restore partition or a restore CD. If not, you could ask the manufacturer.

A new CD from Microsoft will attract some cost (not sure how much, but probably material plus S&H).

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coffeebaron

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#113777 29-Feb-2008 13:48

Perhaps ask around a few friends to borrow an XP Home OEM disc and use that for the install, but obviously still using the appropriate license key. This will usually do the trick, though sometimes you do need to call Microsoft to successfully re-activate.

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cyril7

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#113781 29-Feb-2008 13:51

Yeah thanks guys for the response, I can rustle up a copy, was just hoping I didnt have to go to the bother, but hey. So are you saying that Vista now only comes as one common disc with the licence controling version features?

Cyril

xcubed

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#113782 29-Feb-2008 13:59

Bear in mind that if the machine is a brand name machine (ie: Dell, HP, etc) the license may only work with a manufacturer's XP Home CD. You can tell if this is the case by seeing if the brand name is mentioned on the license label.

I've picked up a couple of old HP machines in the past with XP license labels on them, but no disc. I haven't been able to use them as XP machines because I haven't found an HP XP OEM install disc. (Nevermind, Ubuntu FTW!

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#113784 29-Feb-2008 14:05

Also you will need the appropriate drivers for this machine. If using anything before Windows XP SP2 and if there's a SATA drive then you might need to download drivers to actually install the OS on this machine.

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cyril7

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#113786 29-Feb-2008 14:12

Hi, yes I just went and downloaded drivers, fortunately its an IDE, have already been through the SATA driver drama a year ago on another machine.

Cyril

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coffeebaron

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#113787 29-Feb-2008 14:12

xcubed: Bear in mind that if the machine is a brand name machine (ie: Dell, HP, etc) the license may only work with a manufacturer's XP Home CD. You can tell if this is the case by seeing if the brand name is mentioned on the license label.

I've picked up a couple of old HP machines in the past with XP license labels on them, but no disc. I haven't been able to use them as XP machines because I haven't found an HP XP OEM install disc. (Nevermind, Ubuntu FTW! )

I've never found one that doesn't ultimately work - but some (e.g. HP, Acer..) usually need a "phone Microsoft activation". You just explain you have repaired the PC and they should be fine with that.

Yep, drivers will be the other issue.

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Vorbis

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#113828 29-Feb-2008 18:08

Yeah, just get hold of a home ed disk and ring through to ms for the joyous automatic phone activation.

Simonm

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#113983 1-Mar-2008 17:59

There are ways to make an OEM disk appear to be a HP disk etc. Google will give you more info.

Also watch out there are atleast 4 versions of OEM XP Home (SP0,SP1,SP1a and SP2) and depending on the luck of the draw (I cant remember how it all works) some OEM CDs will not accept a older/newer licence key.

If you still need one let me know, we throw out XP cds at work because we end up with far too many.