My downloading desktopmule is slowly biting the dust.

The internals (Processor, RAM etc) are good but the HDD must be at least 10 years old and being just 20GB it's been filled and wiped many many times een more so since it started downloading movies music and tv series' on a regualr basis.

At present it is running XP which was installed using the copied i386 folder from an old laptop to install XP over the top of 2000.

This is pretty messy and i'd love to install a fresh clean XP to a brand new clean HDD.

Unfortuantely i have no XP installation discs and said old laptop is now completely dead so i cannot extract the i386 folder to create some sort of boot disc even if i could install 2000 first.

So are XP installatino discs transferable; and assuming the answer is yes does any one have a disc they would lend me?

The mentioned old laptop is still in my possession and has a its installation sticker with genuine licence number on the bottom so the installation wou be valid I just need a way of putting it on the hard drive?!

Can you download?

I can probably stick an ISO on a web server for you.. so long as its professional you need, i don't have any media for home edition.

If you have a license key to enter (NOT an OEM one), then the XP iso file is widely available via bittorrent and other sharing sites, often with SP3 slip streamed into it.

Another option is to fit a new hard drive and use a free/cheap software package to "clone" (transfer), your current 20GB disks contents to the new HDD, then remove or format the original and use for storage.

A third option, assuming the HDD is still OK in the laptop, is to pull it out and buy a suitable external case for it, and access the files that way.

The final, and slightly dodgy option, is to download TinyXP, currently on version 11. I have at least a dozen different XP and XP Pro licenses lying around, but I install TinyXP because it removes all the M$ registration hassles that pop up whenever I change a drive or pci card (which is nearly every other week sometimes!!).

The PC still functions perfectly its just reeeeeeeally slow

I did look into downloading XP files but had no idea which ones i needed and how to make it into a boot disc etc and my extended reading on it fried my brain!

do i just need the iso file?

then burn said file to a CD and then start up booting from disc?

Is it really that simple?

Is it an OEM installation? Home or pro?

I can stick a disc in the post for you if you like

It's XP Professional

It originally arrived pre-installed on a HP business laptop.

I copied the i386 folder so that i could install XP on the desktop over a copy of Windows 2000

The laptop is now deader than dead - i broke the screen, and the battery died and now i've disposed of the power cable too.

The desktop does still function perfectly but is massively slow (the Windows chimes even distort when it first turns on!)

I've defragged and cc-cleaned and scandisc-ed and malwared the thing but it's still slow.

Having spoken to the IT guy at work he said a given the age of the drive it's probably on it's way out and given that while the processor is old and single core it is 2ghz and there's 2GB of RAM so i'm thinking dying HDD sound likely.

Resulting in my query about a new drive and installing XP

Of course if anyone has a spare IDE drive i could test that'd aid me in making sure it absolutley is not the other internals taht are on their way out!

If it is XP Pro, just download Tiny XP 11, it is a slim-lined version of Pro with the unneeded crud removed. An ISO file is burnt straight to a disk, most burner packages, including the free ones will be capable of doing this.

Then you just need to make sure the BIOS is set to boot from the CD/DVD drive first, or hit the requisite key to select the boot device on start up (F8 on my Asus).

I've defragged and cc-cleaned and scandisc-ed and malwared the thing but it's still slow.

Having spoken to the IT guy at work he said a given the age of the drive it's probably on it's way out and given that while the processor is old and single core it is 2ghz and there's 2GB of RAM so i'm thinking dying HDD sound likely.

Resulting in my query about a new drive and installing XP

Of course if anyone has a spare IDE drive i could test that'd aid me in making sure it absolutely is not the other internals that are on their way out!

If it's of any help I'm replacing my smallish desktop, Silverstone SG01 case, which has XP home, P4 3.2ghz, Nvidia GT8600, I have Win XP install disc etc, The HDD is a bit iffy but I have a new 160 GB HDD to replace it.

PM for more details.

IF HDD is Maxtor/SEAGATE, hen ther's a download called POWERMAX that will test your disc.WD - they've got a disc test . Pity you got rid of the power cable, you could have connected a monitor to the video port on the laptop ,and copied the files . Might be worth a lok round for another adaptor ,to get laptop powered up ,with a monitor connected . Lesson no 1 - ALWAYS take a back up of files , especialy important ones.I always make a copy of my masters ,and use the copy, for instalations.

For burning images to a CD,I use isobuster, BUT, for best resuts, limit speed of burn to X1 .( Look on Tucows.com/Download .com for this prog -it's freeware- both sites are a good source of programs).Then ,once you're back up and running,start looking for a decent firewal ( XP'S is useless) ,and a antivirus + antispyware .Possibly the FREE version of Zone alarm ,with spy ,and Avast anti virus .

Plenty of "Clean pull " disks on Ebay. I got an 80GB for approx £10 - to use an out of PC store /backup .These are second hand, most are out of PC's built by major players,that couldn't sell thm, so sold on the bits. The cheaper ones are best left alone, unless you've got disk test programs .

I'd just put Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on it if I were you. You could try running it from a USB memory stick without touching your Windows install or hard disc to see how you get on with it -If you don't like it nothing lost. Probably a much better option for a downloading machine than Windows anyway.

Can we keep the answers legit please

No torrents etc

If he has a genuine XP Pro license, Tiny XP is legit, as it is just the XP Pro disk with the option of cutting the crud out via a set of scripts in the start up screen; you can even install the full standard XP Pro set up if you wish. I have done this myself, to allow me to install the Chinese language update version on the wifes Dell PC.

That is why I happily use it, knowing I have the license and M$ insist it is the license and NOT the physical disk that matters.

Fair enough, does it let you use any xp pro key ??

.iso downloaded (thank you Mr Pinner)

disc burnt

test to see if it actually works tonight

then start hunting for a HDD

How does one format a computers only HDD from start up?

Insert disk, set bios to boot from it, then read the instructions, it's pretty straight forward

edit ... http://tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/installXP1.htm

How does one format a computers only HDD from start up?

It's part of the XP install process...

Chris

I did think it would be all part and parcel of the install but thought it might be useful to wipe it up front

I shall let MS do their thing :S

Fair enough, does it let you use any xp pro key ??

Should do, although if it is an OEM key, it may only work if the system is still original; I have done a like for like mobo swap and it still worked, but when the 3rd gigabyte board blew I tried a board from Asus, and the key wasnt accepted. (MA78LM-S2 boards are cr@p!!!! THREE effing boards died in 4 months!!!!!)

so xp disc has been used, hard drive entirely formatted and XP installed from fresh

The machine is up and running once again and actually working like lightening for now so maybe a clean out was all it needed

However the XP product key that is on the sticker on the back of the now dead laptop is apparently incorrect when trying to validate the install!

I did a bit of googling and found that a product key can be found in a file on the disc which is great but obviously that's the key from another install so also when validating comes up as counterfeit

Any reason why the key won't work?

Does it know that key and disc are not from the came place?

Does it know that the key is intended for another machine?

Have i just tried to speed up a slow computer and have succeeded only for it to turn into a very large desktop brick in 30 days!?

Should do, although if it is an OEM key, it may only work if the system is still original; I have done a like for like mobo swap and it still worked, but when the 3rd gigabyte board blew I tried a board from Asus, and the key wasnt accepted. (MA78LM-S2 boards are cr@p!!!! THREE effing boards died in 4 months!!!!!)

According to M$ it is the motherboard that is "the pc" as everything else is upgradable. Replace the motherboard with a different make and model and there goes the OEM installation. Although you can, in most cases, reactivate the key up to 10 times before it ceases to work. (Might require telephone activation instead) so OEM is 'portable' to a certain degree.

Well.............no wait, it's a lie. If you have an HP and replace it with an HP (or a Dell for a Dell), is all good and still works as the HP/Dell OEM installation looks at the BIOS for the manufacturer of the board, so no taking an HP install and sticking it in Dell, but HP for a better HP, yeah, job's a good'un. ;)

3 Motherboards in 4 months? Jeezo, that's bad.

so xp disc has been used, hard drive entirely formatted and XP installed from fresh

The machine is up and running once again and actually working like lightening for now so maybe a clean out was all it needed

However the XP product key that is on the sticker on the back of the now dead laptop is apparently incorrect when trying to validate the install!

I did a bit of googling and found that a product key can be found in a file on the disc which is great but obviously that's the key from another install so also when validating comes up as counterfeit

Any reason why the key won't work?

Does it know that key and disc are not from the came place?

Does it know that the key is intended for another machine?

Have i just tried to speed up a slow computer and have succeeded only for it to turn into a very large desktop brick in 30 days!?

XP/Vista/7 & 8 all 'dial home' to check the validity key. When you install an OEM it (apparently) creates a record of what your system contained at the time of activiation. If you change multiple parts of the PC in one go (e.g. video card and processor) it updates that record at M$. If you suddenly change the base of the machine (i.e. the motherboard), at the next 'dial home'/activation it checks against the original key. if the the record is castly different, activation fails.

If a key has been over-used, it will be locked out completely. There was a copy of XP Pro Corp (volume license activation) floating around the internet (prior to Service Pack 1 - i.e 8/9 years ago before you go all anti-piracy moddy-mad) with a dodgy key. SP1 would not install onto any machine that key already on-board and would de-activate any machine that had it when you tried to install SP1 too. Ironically the key started with FCK.....

That is true, each part in the PC is worth so many points with components like onboard NICs worth a lot more. If any of these components are changed the system works out how much has actually changed, the higher the value the more it deems it to have changed and once it reaches a certain value it triggers a re-activation. For a normal XP license, a certain number of reactivations are allowed but if you go over that it's a phone call to Microsoft to activate.

OEM licenses are different in that on their first activation they are tied to the initial hardware with only small changes allowed (items with lower points) but if you go beyond that it triggers a reactivation that won't be allowed. At least that's the theory, in practice it seems to be a lot more murky - I know quite a few people who have had no problems reactivating OEM licenses on a different PC, it wouldn't go automatically but they managed to convince Microsoft on the phone to activate it.

Which version of XP did you install? Was it from a retail disc or an OEM one? As far as I'm aware it has to be an OEM disc, not a retail one. Have you tried phoning MIcrosoft and blag your way through?

Anyway take this all with a pinch of salt, I don't deal much with standard XP installs these days as it's automated builds at work and most home PCs I see now have moved onto newer operating systems.

John

If it's of any help I'm replacing my smallish desktop, Silverstone SG01 case, which has XP home, P4 3.2ghz, Nvidia GT8600, I have Win XP install disc etc, The HDD is a bit iffy but I have a new 160 GB HDD to replace it.

PM for more details.

to sum then... oh poop

I'll ask around work and see if they have any recovery discs for the HP desktops we use

that may be a way around it

As someone mentioned, have you thought of trying linux?  There are small distros that will work without a HDD at all.  I use Puppy and it does all the normal stuff like browsing, email etc.  I think the Daily Telegraph tech section did a hand holding install a few years ago.

Being very light they will make an old machine fly.