Product Key Issue

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Im in the process of building a basic PC which I will be putting Linux on.But as Im studying for my A+ I thought Id could dual-boot with XP so that I could do the exercises for the OS without worrying about problems.
What Ive got is the Recovery DVD I made when we got our main comp and I thought Id install XP from that.(Probably illegal I know). Im sure during the install it will ask for the Licence Key which I dont have so how do I work around that?

 

mate - if it's illegal, then you should buy a legal copy of Windows...

as for the recovery disc, the ones that i have dealt with do not ask for the license key... just realised, the recovery disc that is for your *main pc* more likely will not work as the hardware will be different.

 

Hi,

It was not that long ago that on the purchase of a machine, you would recieve the *full* XP disc. By full i refer to the same version of XP that you would pay for over the counter and could go through setup, partition etc.

Piracy has forced Microsoft to suppling an *imaged* version of your purchased machine as it left the factory. Although this could be argued as satisfactory, I recently had to re-install an Asus laptop from an image. Whilst it was fairly quick, it had all the *horrible* things that not only slow the machine down, but are already availible within Windows XP. Oh, and it was FAT32!


Help stop Pirated software; use Open Source software where possible.

Regards

Si

 

What they said. A recovery CD will only work on the original machine usualy, and then often only if it hasn't been modified in any way.

Harry.

 

A had a classic last week. I was given a *broken* laptop and amazingly the original *imaged* disc (or so i thought ).

I booted from the CD, and it started it's text based install. It then displayed a nice image telling me that it wasn't the machine that the disc was intended for and basically bugger off!

 

could you remember the exact error message?

 

Cheeks,

It something along the line of *the image you are attempting to install was not created for this machine, please contact the manufacturer to purchase software*

Si

 

It's nothing to do with Microsoft Boyce, they still provide a proper OEM Microsoft XP CD with just the operating system and no bloatware. It is the PC manufacturers that decide to create their own recovery disks, which will generally return the computer back to the state in which you bought it ie with a working operating system and of course full of HP, Dell or whatever marketing junk etc.

 

To balance this out - IMHO the Sony disks have useful software on with things like screen brightness reduction when on battery and the like.

Harry.

 

Ah So-ny, is that so that you can see their battery explode without the bright distraction of the screen?

 

Well thats my question answered.Ive got Ubuntu and Mandriva to install so who knows, Ill take my Linux+ later.

 

<giggle>

My Vaio is so old it predates the infamous battery problem....

Harry.

 

So old you have to crank the handle to get it booted?? or do you just pok ethe hamster within to wake him up?

 

Hamsters need lots of sleep - or at least this one does....

Harry.