OEM troubles

daniel_cantrell

New Member
I have a Compaq that I need to do a recovery on but the recovery partition is gone and I can't get it to recover with just the cds;it keeps hanging up. I posted on the OS thread but im not getting much feedback there...I tried to use a Dell recovery cd but it hangs up too...I know there are problems with OEM computers but I don't know what I can or can't do....This Compaq has XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2...Can I borrow a full install cd and use my key and download the drivers from HP? If so does it have to be rollup 2 or can I use a regular Media Center 2005? I don't know much bout this stufff but i've never had to take a computer to a shop either...Usually figure it out with a little help...Thanks
 
first things first m8
why you need to do a recovery?
and no you cant "BORROW" a full cd and use other keys m8 that pirating
 
I have a Compaq that I need to do a recovery on but the recovery partition is gone and I can't get it to recover with just the cds;it keeps hanging up. I posted on the OS thread but im not getting much feedback there...I tried to use a Dell recovery cd but it hangs up too...I know there are problems with OEM computers but I don't know what I can or can't do....This Compaq has XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2...Can I borrow a full install cd and use my key and download the drivers from HP? If so does it have to be rollup 2 or can I use a regular Media Center 2005? I don't know much bout this stufff but i've never had to take a computer to a shop either...Usually figure it out with a little help...Thanks

At which part of setup does it hang at?
 
most xp oem disks are only activated/allowed to install with correct key for cd m8

I was under the impression that all XP disks would be the same (apart from different releases, by which I mean that yes, I'm sure XP w/SP2 CDs don't accept keys for the original XP release and so on). Anyone know how this actually is?

And BTW, deviousmind...you don't happen to be Australian, d'ya? :D
 
I just don't know bout this thing...I been fooling with it all day and can't get it past 58% complete on the recovery...The keyboard quits working right in the middle of the recovery (if it even works at all after reboot) and the mouse only works sometimes....I reset the defaults in the bios and reset the battery one time also....Changed the cd reader-twice- changed the memory and still the same thing....
 
No im not australian m8
If you get an oem windows disc you can only install/register it once, you cant do a re-install with it even on same pc as windows wont accept it, its a one time only install
If you get a retail windows disc you can re-install it as many times as you want but only on the hardware that it was first installed with, otherwise it wont let you
Each cd has a code that is sent and is only activated with the correct key
hope this helps
 
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