Hi there,

I have alaptop that was preloaded with xp.

It really plays up and i wanted to format the HDD and re-install windows.

Can I use an XP disc that was used to install the work computers and just plug in the code on the bottom of my laptop?

If you can advise me, i would be very grateful,

Ben

Most likely not. The version of XP at work will most likely be the corporate version, this version does not accept oem codes. What you really need is the recovery media that came with the laptop. If you dont have/didnt get any there is usually a menu option somewhere to create the disks.

What brand is it?? As manno says, there will be a recovery system in there somewhere or disks that were supplied with it.

An OEM disk is going to be what you need , but they aren't usually brand specific - I have plenty of Dell ones that I can do you a copy of.

Look on drive d:

It's not a corporate one, we get our compouters from a chap down the road who builds them for anybody, he just buys the discs in bulk from mirosoft.

There are only 5 of us here anyway.

Will this work?

What laptop have you got? Someone might have a disk you can get a copy of.

It's legit to copy the disk, only the license has value.

I have an Acer 1640, and I want to wipe the HDD of any information as my friend is going to have it when I get an upgrade in January and I would be happy if it were totally clean of all my details, bank etc.

I know there are products about like CCleaner etc but Windows is playing about very bad and it could do with a refresh.

Ben

my recovery disc didnt work, however i managed to pick up a genuine windows xp disc on fleabay with all the codes and leggit for under £50

Using an OEM Win XP disk will work as it will accept the licence code on the sticker that should be on the lappy. It does need to be the same release version though. Most likely you will be looking for an OEM Windows XP SP2 disk.

Ensure you can get all necessary drivers before starting

Hi all,

Just done an XP reinstall and it works fine now, no messing about!

Cheers,

Ben

I put the disk in but it didnt actually format the drive and now the windows is on the D:/ system is on the C:/ :confused::confused: and when I start the computer up it asks which windows OS I want to start, but there is only one on there unless there is the original one hidden somewhere:confused::confused:

How do I totally format the whole drive and then install the windows on just a C:/ and have no partitions???

Is there a set of steps to follow?

Any help appreciated

Thanks,

Ben

An OEM disk is going to be what you need , but they aren't usually brand specific - I have plenty of Dell ones that I can do you a copy of.

The dell XP discs are locked to dell hardware.....

No they aren't.

I've installed it on my brother's decidedly non-dell pc , plus a couple of samsung laptops at work.

With a dell machine it bypasses the product key and activation stages , but it will work on anything

I put the disk in but it didnt actually format the drive and now the windows is on the D:/ system is on the C:/ :confused::confused: and when I start the computer up it asks which windows OS I want to start, but there is only one on there unless there is the original one hidden somewhere:confused::confused:

How do I totally format the whole drive and then install the windows on just a C:/ and have no partitions???

Is there a set of steps to follow?

Any help appreciated

Thanks,

Ben

Start again but when you get to the xp install bit and it asks which partion you want to use, delete both of them i.e.c,d, then format the whole disk and install

No they aren't.

I've installed it on my brother's decidedly non-dell pc , plus a couple of samsung laptops at work.

With a dell machine it bypasses the product key and activation stages , but it will work on anything

ahh righty.. ill bear that in mind next time i need to install xp somewhere

How do I totally format the whole drive and then install the windows on just a C:/ and have no partitions???

I think with acer computers you press alt-F10 on boot to enter their recovery mode. From this you should be able to reset the computer back to factory settings, wiping all data in the process.

Hope this helps