Am i correct in thinking i can get any copy of windows xp pro, install it, and then use the product code on my pc case a activate it???
I need to know because i dont have the orginal copy of xp, pc came second hand with it pre installed
How do i find out if a have a hidden partion on my hard drive?
Setting aside the legalities, I think the answer is basically no, not without a lot of messing around. The legal answer is almost definately no.
I *think* you'd need to have an OEM copy of Windows XP to install, as that will be what was pre-installed, and what the license number will work
on.
I also understand that many OEM copies are limited to the type of hardware that they are meant to ship on, as a way of stopping people from installing
lots of machines from a single set of (backup) media. So, my Thinkpad media probably won't install (more properly, it wont activate I guess) on a
Dell using the (valid) code on the bottom of the Dell machine.
Now, there are tools that will allow you to generate keys for any type of Windows, so you could use one of them with a normal retail copy of XP, but
you're basically into piracy at that point. You'll find the auto-updates won't work either, as MS will spot that its ripped off when
their updater runs. Not a good way forward, IMHO.
To find out if you have hidden partitions etc, then use something like this bootable CD, which provides all kinds of DOS-based tools for recovering
partitions, and manipulating them. Note ... these types of tools *are* dangerous ... you can delete partitions etc very easily!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hiren.thanki/bootcd.html
Finally, you could always take this as an opportunity to try Linux. SUSE 10 installs easily, is very friendly in use, and free (well, the price of the
download & 5 CD-R's).
Hope that helps
Cheers
Richard
[Edited on 11/12/05 by SixedUp]
The XP disk thing, yes, but it has to be a basic xp disk not a disk from a supplier like dell/hp as they key it to their hardware.
to find out what paritions your disk has goto the control panel and administrive tools and goto Computer Management, then under the storage tree their
is a node called disk maneagement, this will tell you how your disk is partitioned
[Edited on 11/12/05 by Gav]
The sticker will (presuming it was supplied with the PC, not purchased by somebody from a retail shop) be an OEM licence so you'll need an OEM
XP, rather than a Retail or Corporate version. Those 3 all use different (or no, in the case of corp.) licence keys.
Under where it says Windows XP Pro on the sticker, it may well have a name, like Dell, HP, Fujitsu etc. These are OEM versions and in actual fact I
don't believe the licences are legally usable after the inital purchase, ie. non transferable.
On the right side of the sticker, there may also be a D, if there is, that means that re-install media was also supplied with the machine, this would
make re-install easier for you. Again, this applies to branded OEM version, which can't be resold.
Non-manufacturer specific ones, ie. no name under the XP Pro wording, are OEM stickers purchased from a DSP (distribution service provider) and can be
re-sold, as they are designed for system builders to use, and that may be sold via a disty, through reseller, to end user.
Contrary to whats been written above, media from IBM will install and activate fine on a Dell, or any other, PC. And a Dell OEM key would work on an
IBM OEM CD too. The manufacturer may have added (slipstreamed) hardware specific drivers for their platform onto the CD, but its still got all the
normal M$ stuff on it and will work fine.
Its normally the M$ Office products which are BIOS locked and will only install on the same manufacturers product as it is branded by. Hence the
reason HP's branded Office 2003 is about £4 cheaper than a generic OEM version.
Basically, get yourself an OEM copy of XP Pro from anybody, either supplied with a branded PC or a plain OEM copy, and it'll be fine if
you've got an OEM licence.
If you've got a retail licence (very unlikely) then you need to find a retail copy of the CD.
ta
Chris
quote:
Originally posted by the_fbi
Contrary to whats been written above, media from IBM will install and activate fine on a Dell, or any other, PC. And a Dell OEM key would work on an IBM OEM CD too. The manufacturer may have added (slipstreamed) hardware specific drivers for their platform onto the CD, but its still got all the normal M$ stuff on it and will work fine.
quote:
Originally posted by Gav
quote:
Originally posted by the_fbi
Contrary to whats been written above, media from IBM will install and activate fine on a Dell, or any other, PC. And a Dell OEM key would work on an IBM OEM CD too. The manufacturer may have added (slipstreamed) hardware specific drivers for their platform onto the CD, but its still got all the normal M$ stuff on it and will work fine.
Im sorry chris but i have to disagree, have you actually tried this? i have and i know for fact that a Dell XP cd will most certainly not install on commodity hardware, nor HP.
we use these to brands extensivley at work, especially for servers and i know they will definatly not install on other vendors hardware, wether its 2003 server or XP.
humm interesting, everytime ive tried to install from a Dell or HP cd onto commodity hardware its always given me an error stating that you must be
use <insert vendor's model>.
Although the error has come from the vendors install screen not the default xp install screens.
I know Acer supply a recovery CD which is an image, which is a real pain in the ass because they setup some really odd options like larger DPI, so i
just reinstalled XP prof from my MS Action Pack 
quote:
Originally posted by Gav
The XP disk thing, yes, but it has to be a basic xp disk not a disk from a supplier like dell/hp as they key it to their hardware.
suck it and and see 