XP CD discussion

[Bluff]

Dear all

Yes, i have fooloishly lost my Win XP Home CD. I know a friend with one. I'm just wondering, can I use the product key stuck on the side of my case with his CD and it still a) work (with activation and Windows Update etc.) and b) is it legal?

I suppose from Microsoft's pov I did legitimately buy a copy of Win XP, so this is why have the product key, presumably all the CDs are the same so there's no difference which cd i use to install from?

[Atodini]

Yes you can use any XP Home CD with your key.

Yes it is legal.

If you can borrow an XP Home CD with SP2 slipstreamed then you can save yourself quite a bit of time.

As to whether you can make a backup copy of this legally I'm not so sure but I don't see any reason why not as you have the COA.

I have "master" copies of all M$ operating systems that I use for new builds, upgrades and repairs. That way on a new build I can give the customer his XP CD still sealed in its packaging...

John

[rsnovak]

Making any copies of any software is illegal! Sorry to say, most people copy it anyways! Far as using your friends copy of XP Home, make sure that the key you have on your machine is the same SP or it will not work!

[slgrieb]

Bluff, no matter what rsnovak thinks, it isn't a given that copying any software is illegal. Under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, it is illegal to copy any copy protected software, but Windows XP is not copy protected.

Yes, you can legally copy someone else's XP CD and then use your product ID to install it if the versions match. That is, if your original OS was XP SP1, your product ID will only be valid for that same release; it won't work with a Windows XP SP2 CD. If you used a different version of Windows and a bootlegged product ID, that would be illegal.

However, Microsoft will replace your CD. For details, see: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

[slgrieb]

OMG, as is so often the case, you're full of crap. Microsoft will send you a replacement CD for shipping and handling with proof of purchase. Check it out Bluff.

[slgrieb]

Gosh, OMG! Not to the point, and yet another reason to avoid buying dubious products on Ebay! But, I think we are discussing a legally acquired copy of Widows and and not some gray-market junk. I'm sure that confuses you. But then, I expect most things in life do!

[CCT]

Peace Children - this is NOT NICE!


The software, with a legit COA code, SHOULD BE FREE.


We know that!


The rest is just silliness!



Let's all show our solidarity by singing 'Always Look for the Union Label' or 'Kumbya' right now.

[street1]

Peace Children - this is NOT NICE!


The software, with a legit COA code, SHOULD BE FREE.


We know that!


The rest is just silliness!



Let's all show our solidarity by singing 'Always Look for the Union Label' or 'Kumbya' right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQW1yfDbxAg

[street1]

Some of your software will be controlled by your conscience.It ain't cheatin to use wut's yorn.

English term or phrase: Kumbya or Qumbya
Kumbya my Lord; it is part of a song I learned as a child. I wish to know the meaning of the word.
Jennifer


Come by here, my Lord
It's the Gullah dialect of South Carolina


http://www.yourdictionary.com/about/...+kumbaya++song...


22. What does 'kumbaya' in the song, "Kumbaya, my Lord" mean?
"Kumbaya, my Lord" started out in the 1920s as a Gullah spiritual sung on the islands of South Carolina between Charleston and Beaufort. Gullah is the creole featured in the Uncle Remus series of Joel Chandler Harris and the Walt Disney production of "Song of the South." "Come by here, my Lord" in Gullah is "Come by (h)yuh, my lawd" (see our Gullah dictionary). American missionaries probably took the song to Angola after its publication in the 1930s, where its origins were forgotten. In the late 1950s the song was rediscovered in Angola and returned to North American where it swept the campfire circuit as a beautiful and mysterious religious lyric. That is why the song is associated with Angola in many current printed versions.

[street1]

[QUOTE=OMGmissinglink]

Some of your software will be controlled by your conscience.It ain't cheatin to use wut's yorn.

This is not any help were talking about you own one legit COA, MS should be glad to issue replacement disk.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...5Bln%5D;326246

[rgharper]

Dear all

Yes, i have fooloishly lost my Win XP Home CD. I know a friend with one. I'm just wondering, can I use the product key stuck on the side of my case with his CD and it still a) work (with activation and Windows Update etc.) and b) is it legal?

I suppose from Microsoft's pov I did legitimately buy a copy of Win XP, so this is why have the product key, presumably all the CDs are the same so there's no difference which cd i use to install from?

Unfortunately no, not all CDs are the same. Especially in your case, where the copy of XP came with the computer. In your case, no retail Windows XP CD will install using the CD key you have. It's also very likely that any Windows XP CD other than one from your computer manufacturer will work either.

The ongoing discussion is overlooking the fact that your copy of Windows is an OEM copy, not a retail copy. If it were a retail copy - you went to a store and bought one - then any retail disk would work with any retail key. But OEM copies are entirely different. Many of them are locked to the specific type of BIOS in your computer - if you put a Compaq CD into an IBM PC it will likely refuse to install at all, let alone get to the point where you'd put in the CD key and the key would be rejected as improper.

Your best bet is to contact your PC manufacturer and get a replacement CD from them. I can guarantee you that CD would work with your computer and your CD key. Otherwise you are pretty much out of luck.

[rgharper]

We've got a retail disk that will install the OS and it works fine the problem with MS gave me another company's pnone number to call to as to obtain another disk wanted 85 bucks without a COA, the company asked the numbers on the COA and stated the COA was ligit. MS could issue a disk rather its OEM or Retail disks should make them no differance, the OS can't be activated without a ligit COA.

I'm pretty sure the "other company" is either your computer manufacturer or their support folks, which would be why they would be able to confirm that your product key was legitimate.

And no, Microsoft can't issue you an OEM CD since those are (1) produced by your computer company, not Microsoft; and (2) as I stated previously, are usually keyed to the specific brand or type of computer the disc came with.

The only way you're going to get a new CD that works with the key on the side of your computer is to get one from your computer manufacturer. If they choose to charge you 85 bucks for it, your complaint is with them and not with Microsoft since Microsoft cannot provide you with the manufacturer's OEM CD.

If you have, or know someone who has, a similar computer (same brand and type as yours) you could try borrowing their OEM CD and see if it will work. Otherwise your choices are to either get the replacement CD from your computer manufacturer or to buy a copy of Windows at the store and use the CD key from that CD to reinstall Windows. There are no other valid choices in the situation you're in.

[street1]

So just out of pure morbid curiousity........

What is the Manufacturer Brand name and model of the computer?

[NooNoo]

Bottom line is - Software and Operating System CDs and DVDs need looking after. The number of people who don't think that they need to be put somewhere safe and not scratched or run over with chairs or used as a frisbee....

Please, look after them!

[NooNoo]

So old school he knows that you make grandfather, father, son copies of everything valuable.