[geeks] WinXP CD help

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Wed, Jan 02, 2008 at 12:43:27AM -0600, Dan Duncan wrote:
> I'm trying to restore a Dell laptop using the included Windows XP
> "Reinstallation CD" but it's horribly scratched.  (This is actually
> one of the CDs that is just WinXP without all the extraneous Dell crap
> because I have used it before.)
> The only other WinXP CDs I have access to are non-OEM XPPro versions
> which will not take the product key on the sticker
> on the laptop because it's an OEM reg code, not a "real" reg code and
> also probably because it's Pro and not Home. 

What I would do is call Dell first and if they won't help you, call
Microsoft. Be ready to fax them a photocopy of the sticker and pay them
a fee for shipping and handling for a new disk.

I have no experience with Dell, or Microsoft itself, but Microsoft
Israel and several of the other subsidiaries of U.S. companies glady
send out replacement CDs for free.

If that fails, then the next thing I would do is to copy the CD to a 
directory on a hard drive and replace the bad files with ones from
a similar CD. My GUESS is that driver.cab will work fine from any
Pro CD, but I may be wrong.

If you can't access the hard drive from the laptop, burn it onto a CD.
As long as the directory structure stays the same, it should work, Since
the "Tree of Evil" lawsuit, Microsoft does not use copy protection on
any of their products.

I am not legal expert, but AFAIK, this would fall within the "fair use"
provisons of U.S. law, as long as you retain the laptop. The license
that came with it is for Windows, not only the CD. This would also allow
you to borrow a CD from someone else if you could find it.

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
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