How are people "supposed" to re-install WinXP on old PCs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dr Rig
  • Start date Start date
ttp://code.kliu.org/misc/win7utils/
The Windows 7 ISO Image Edition Switcher is a set of small binary
patches (and a tool to apply these patches) that will convert an
official Windows 7 ISO disc image into an official Windows 7 ISO disc
image of another edition. The resulting ISO images are bit-for-bit
identical with those posted on MSDN or TechNet, and their SHA-1 hashes
should match the official hashes posted by Microsoft.
http://www.oembios.net/
 
there is NO SANCTIONED
METHOD, short of buying the OS license a second time,
to get the ones and zeros to implement your license.
Click to expand...

This was my dilemma. I have perfectly legal computers (albeit old ones);
they have a wholly legal license to use Windows XP Home ... yet I didn't
get an install disk with the IBM laptop while the DELL install disk
wouldn't work on the IBM (I presume).

The Dell WinXP home I had to ask for within 30 days of buying the
computer years ago (which I did - but what if I didn't know that at the
time).

The IBM Thinkpad laptop didn't come with WinXP recovery disks because,
supposedly the recovery partition was on the hard disk drive (which is no
longer in the computer due to failure).

So, what is a person "supposed" to do was my question.

As for me, I "resorted" to asking an IT friend at work to "lend" me his
disk (which turned out to be WinXP Professional) and his CD Key (which
apparently allows for multiple installs).

I would have "preferred" to have my very own recovery disk for each
laptop, or better yet, a recovery disk for all laptops.

Anyway, I think I have my answer as to what others do.

Is this a good summary?
1. If your PC came with a full Windows XP installation, consider yourself
lucky; make a copy & save that disk!
2. If your PC came with a "recovery" disk, also consider yourself lucky;
save that disk!
3. If you PC didn't come with a disk, some manufacturers (Dell, for
example) will send you a free recovery if you ask for the recovery disk
set within 30 days of purchase.
4. If your PC didn't come with a disk and you can't get a recovery set,
then you can use freeware to image the current status of the PC to re-
install when you replace hard drives later.
5. If you don't have a working system at the time you need the recovery
disk (which was my situation), then you have no good option but to
"borrow" a friend's disc.

What most people seem to do in the situation I was in (#5 above) is they:
5a) They "borrow" a similar full installation disk from a friend and use
their own WinXP key printed on the sticker on the bottom of the laptop.
5b) They "borrow" a "retail" WinXP installation disc with the CD Key for
that home installation (but I don't know if this works on the Internet
since the key is supposedly unique but two computer would be using it)
5c) They "borrow" a "corporate" WinXP installation disc with the CD Key
for that corporate installation (this, I know, works on the Internet).

What I did was option 5c, the last of my available options.

Is this a good summary of "what most people do" to re-image an old PC?
 
At the end of this thread, I make the current summary and ask if that is
the answer from this thread (after reading all the posts).

Is this a good summary?
1. If your PC came with a full Windows XP installation, consider yourself
lucky; make a copy & save that disk!
2. If your PC came with a "recovery" disk, also consider yourself lucky.
3. If your PC didn't come with a disk, some manufacturers (Dell, for
example) will send you a free recovery set if you ask within 30 days of
purchase.
4. If your PC didn't come with a disk and you can't get a recovery set
(as in the case of the IBM laptop with a separate recovery partition),
and if the disk is no longer good (so that the recovery partition won't
work), then you can use freeware to image the current status of the PC to
re-install when you replace hard drives later.
5. If you don't have a working system at the time you need the recovery
disk (which was my situation, and I assume very common), then you have no
good option but to "borrow" a friend's disc.

What most people seem to do in the situation I was in (#5 above) is they:
5a) They "borrow" a "similar" (Home->Home, Pro->Pro) retail installation
disk from a friend to make an installation using their own unique WinXP
key printed on the sticker on the bottom of their laptop.
5b) They "borrow" any "retail" WinXP installation disc (Home or Pro) and
use the CD Key for that home installation (but I don't know if this works
on the Internet since the key is supposedly unique but two computer would
be using it at the same time).
5c) They "borrow" a "corporate" WinXP installation disc using the CD Key
for that corporate installation (this, I know, works on the Internet and
allows multiple systems to have the same Windows key).

What I did was option 5c, the last of my available options.

Is this a good summary of "what most people do" to re-image an old PC
whose hard drive failed on them?
 
Is this a good summary?
1. If your PC came with a full Windows XP installation, consider yourself
lucky; make a copy & save that disk!
2. If your PC came with a "recovery" disk, also consider yourself lucky;
save that disk!
3. If you PC didn't come with a disk, some manufacturers (Dell, for
example) will send you a free recovery if you ask for the recovery disk
set within 30 days of purchase.
4. If your PC didn't come with a disk and you can't get a recovery set,
then you can use freeware to image the current status of the PC to re-
install when you replace hard drives later.
Click to expand...

#4 is what everyone should do anyway. And they should do it monthly in
order to reinstall their system to its most recent state. There's no
reason to regret not owning a factory restore CD/DVD.
5. If you don't have a working system at the time you need the recovery
disk (which was my situation), then you have no good option but to
"borrow" a friend's disc.
Click to expand...

If you can't borrow the same OS version from a friend, most major
manufacturers offer a recovery CD/DVD for sale. XP users should also
save an I386 folder for file repairs. Vista and Win7 users should
download and burn their free repair CD from neosmart.net.
 
Dr Rig said:
At the end of this thread, I make the current summary and ask if that is
the answer from this thread (after reading all the posts).

Is this a good summary?
1. If your PC came with a full Windows XP installation, consider yourself
lucky; make a copy & save that disk!
2. If your PC came with a "recovery" disk, also consider yourself lucky.
3. If your PC didn't come with a disk, some manufacturers (Dell, for
example) will send you a free recovery set if you ask within 30 days of
purchase.
4. If your PC didn't come with a disk and you can't get a recovery set
(as in the case of the IBM laptop with a separate recovery partition),
and if the disk is no longer good (so that the recovery partition won't
work), then you can use freeware to image the current status of the PC to
re-install when you replace hard drives later.
5. If you don't have a working system at the time you need the recovery
disk (which was my situation, and I assume very common), then you have no
good option but to "borrow" a friend's disc.

What most people seem to do in the situation I was in (#5 above) is they:
5a) They "borrow" a "similar" (Home->Home, Pro->Pro) retail installation
disk from a friend to make an installation using their own unique WinXP
key printed on the sticker on the bottom of their laptop.
5b) They "borrow" any "retail" WinXP installation disc (Home or Pro) and
use the CD Key for that home installation (but I don't know if this works
on the Internet since the key is supposedly unique but two computer would
be using it at the same time).
5c) They "borrow" a "corporate" WinXP installation disc using the CD Key
for that corporate installation (this, I know, works on the Internet and
allows multiple systems to have the same Windows key).

What I did was option 5c, the last of my available options.

Is this a good summary of "what most people do" to re-image an old PC
whose hard drive failed on them?
Click to expand...

Yea, you did one common scenario except disk used may have been a downloaded
won't validate corporate vlt licensed disk instead.
 
The IBM Thinkpad laptop didn't come with WinXP recovery disks
because, supposedly the recovery partition was on the hard disk
drive (which is no longer in the computer due to failure).

So, what is a person "supposed" to do was my question.
Click to expand...

Laptops that come with a recovery partition almost always come with a
program that will back up the recovery partition to about 3 DVD disks.
When you power up your computer for the first time, it will recommend
that you to create these backup DVDs. The program will then allow you
to create one backup set which can be used to re-install Windows should
the hard drive completely fail. The first thing you should do with a
new computer is to create this backup and store the DVDs in a place
where you can find it when you need it.

HTH,
John
 
John Wunderlich said:
Laptops that come with a recovery partition almost always come with a
program that will back up the recovery partition to about 3 DVD disks.
When you power up your computer for the first time, it will recommend
that you to create these backup DVDs. The program will then allow you
to create one backup set which can be used to re-install Windows should
the hard drive completely fail. The first thing you should do with a
new computer is to create this backup and store the DVDs in a place
where you can find it when you need it.

HTH,
John
Click to expand...

What to do you asked?

Well, you get another burnt copy of the cd of the same type of OS, e.g.
Home, Pro etc. If it's a name brand laptop then if possible get a copy of
the same name brand cd. If not, almost always using the same style (Home,
Pro etc.) will do to get system up and going. You then go to manufacturers
website and download the drivers for anything OS didn't recognize as they
almost always seem to have them available and you install them. Viola, no
big deal as you did use the key on the sticker on the pc during install and
that's all MS really cares about.

It really helps if you know beforehand what hardware is in the laptop, e.g.
type of video card, network card, motherboard chipset, sound card, modem
etc. just in case the manufacturer doesn't seem to have appropriate driver
so one can expand search further.
 
pjp said:
What to do you asked?

Well, you get another burnt copy of the cd of the same type of OS, e.g.
Click to expand...

OK, exactly where does one get this CD thru SANCTIONED sources
WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT AGAIN?!!!!!!
My Vista disk CLEARLY states,"Do not lend or make illegal copies".
Every M$ disk I can remember says something similar.

The whole point of this thread is that there ain't no SANCTIONED
way to reinstall windows unless you have the original disk that came
with it or made one from the buildyourowndiskstool.
 
The whole point of this thread is that there ain't no SANCTIONED
way to reinstall windows unless you have the original disk that came
with it or made one from the buildyourowndiskstool.
Click to expand...

They ought to give the installation disks away, since they're of no use
without an activation code.
 
mike said:
OK, exactly where does one get this CD thru SANCTIONED sources
WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT AGAIN?!!!!!!
My Vista disk CLEARLY states,"Do not lend or make illegal copies".
Every M$ disk I can remember says something similar.

The whole point of this thread is that there ain't no SANCTIONED
way to reinstall windows unless you have the original disk that came
with it or made one from the buildyourowndiskstool.
Click to expand...

The "or make illegal copies" does not explicitly mean every copy made is
illegal. In fact I'm pretty sure you are allowed to make a backup copy of an
original disk regardless of what "Eula" might state. I'm also fairly sure
it'd be pretty tough to prove that a copy came from some "other" specific
original disk assuming it was same "type" of original (Pro, Home, OEM etc.)
as don't think there's anything to distinguish one disk from another. I also
doubt you'd need to provide the original also in a "or else" scenario ...

Personally, I have the sticker and the OS install accepts it; well that's
enough of a good to go for me :)
 
exactly where does one get this CD thru SANCTIONED sources WITHOUT
PAYING FOR IT AGAIN?!!!!!!
My Vista disk CLEARLY states,"Do not lend or make illegal copies". Every
M$ disk I can remember says something similar.
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,
You said it better than I did.

When I originally asked "how are people supposed to", what I meant, was
exactly what you said. What is the "sanctioned" way to do it right.

Turns out, you MUST use forethought since there doesn't appear to be any
"sanctioned" way to re-install Windows if you don't have either your own
full retail Windows CDROM (which almost nobody has because all our PCs
come with Windows installed) - or an install disk (as I did with my Dell
- but you have to get those within the first 30 days) - or a good image
of the system (which seems like a heck of a lot of work and foresight
which I didn't do for my IBM).

Anyway, I got my answer, which was anyone in my situation is forced to
"break the law" (slightly) by "borrowing" a disk. I "should" have used my
own sticker key but since mine was a corporate installation, I used the
corporate key instead - which is why I asked the question in the first
place.

One question I still have for those who don't have access to a corporate
CD and so are forced to " borrow" a retail disk of a slightly differnet
OS (e.g., Home to Pro, as in my example) and they use that borrowed
retail disk key PC on the Internet ...

Q: What happens if there are two PCs on the net with the same retail key?
 
Vista has a Windows Activation section at the bottom of the
Computer->properties window which has a "Change Product Key" link which
allows you to reactivate.
Click to expand...

Oh. OK. I have Windows XP, not Vista.

Situation 1: (Re-image with DELL original WinXP Home)
- This did not even ask me for a CD Key.
- It just worked (on my Dell) sans the need for "activation"

Situation 2: (Re-image with a corporate WinXP Pro)
- My ibm laptop had WinXP Home on it
- The re-install partition was long gone on the hard drive
- The borrowed disk was a corporate WinXP Professional
- The corporate CD key was written on the borrowed disk
- I didn't like it, but I used the corporate cd key
- The PC is working fine on the Internet w/o "activation"

Situation 3: (What if someone re-images with a WinXP Pro retail version)?
- What would happen if someone started with WinXP Home
- And the only disk they could borrow was a retail WinXP Pro
- If they used the key on that WinXP Pro install disk ...
- What would happen with two PCs on the net with the same WinXP CD key?
 
I like Acronis.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll look first for Acronis freeware to make an image of my newly
installed WinXP Os.
Backup strategy begins BEFORE you install the OS.
...make a SMALL C partition for the OS and M$ sw
... On my win7 system, that stuff takes 12GB.
Put ALL your other stuff...on a DIFFERENT partition.
Then you can backup your C drive in a few minutes to the D drive.
Copy it to offline media as often as you think prudent...
but it's only 5GB or so compressed.
Click to expand...

I like your innovative idea of creating such as small "C:\" partition for
Windows that you can an image it on "D:\" so that you can write that "D:
\" OS backup to a DVD disc (while the "C:\" operating system is in use).

I wonder if we can get that copy of "C:\" that's now onto "D:\" and then
to DVD disk smaller than 4.7GB so that it fits onto a single-layer DVD
disc?
 
Dr said:
Thanks. I'll look first for Acronis freeware to make an image of my newly
installed WinXP Os.


I like your innovative idea of creating such as small "C:\" partition for
Windows that you can an image it on "D:\" so that you can write that "D:
\" OS backup to a DVD disc (while the "C:\" operating system is in use).

I wonder if we can get that copy of "C:\" that's now onto "D:\" and then
to DVD disk smaller than 4.7GB so that it fits onto a single-layer DVD
disc?
Click to expand...

There's no magic. If you put less stuff on C, the image will be
smaller. You also need to cleanup all the temp files, extra restore
points, etc. before you do the image.

I got into the habit of specifying that the image gets broken into
1GB sections. Holdover from fat32 days. 8GB thumb drives are so cheap
there's no need to use DVD's for backup anyway.
 
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