Re-installing windows

S

scolls

Member
Well my laptop seems to need a reboot. I got it second hand and do not have a Windows CD. Where is the best place to buy a legit copy of Windows XP? I need it pretty fast. It takes literally 7 minutes for my laptop to boot. There are only 5 programs running at startup. The wireless internet adapter has just quit working, and it has been running pretty slow. I'm thinking I probably need a fresh install of Windows.
 
There isnt a best place really, they stopped selling XP as of June 30th. You might be able to go to a computer store around you and find one laying around maybe? Or google online to see if there is a copy for sale. Take into consideration buying the restore disks from your laptops manufacturer, they might have those available for you. Or maybe just a software only version of XP (no license) if your laptop has the license key on it.
 
Are you sure there isn't a partition on the hdd that contains the windows recovery?
If you buy a new copy of xp you will nedd to get all the motherboard drivers for the laptop so the best thing to do is to go on the website for the laptop and see if they have a recovery disk you can get.
 
Well I have a copy of XP Pro, but apparently it doesn't have the SATA driver and I cannot boot from disk. I found the SATA driver I need, but how do I install it in able to boot Windows?
 
there is a bios setting to emulate ide mode or something... hunt around in there for a bit and see if you can find it. i believe when you are done installing you can turn that off.
 
Well I tried slipstreaming and it turns out my XP disc was damaged. I ended up getting a hold of a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and installed that. I heard a lot of bad things about Vista, but I like it and like it better then XP so I'm happy.
 
Can I install that on more then one computer? I took my laptop to a shop that a friend of my sister owns and he installed Vista and I believe he did some time crack on it. He said it'll say activate in 30 days forever so obviously I must not have a legit copy. I would like to install a fresh legit copy on my machine as well.
 
scolls said:
Can I install that on more then one computer?
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No, only one computer at a time.


scolls said:
I took my laptop to a shop that a friend of my sister owns and he installed Vista and I believe he did some time crack on it. He said it'll say activate in 30 days forever so obviously I must not have a legit copy. I would like to install a fresh legit copy on my machine as well.
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Yeah, sounds like the timerstop crack. That violates Microsoft's EULA, so, for the purposes of discussion here, I'd recommend buying a valid license.
 
So I can just buy the license? He put ultimate on my machine but really what is the difference between home and ultimate? I use the computer for web surfing, school, and media. I'm in the middle of taking online classes so I needed it fixed right away. I want to install a bigger HDD so I may get a new HDD for my machine and give my fiance this one.
 
Doesn't sound like you need Ultimate. If you want to know the differences, check this out. When I say purchase a license, I mean buy the disk.
 
Do you want to create a copy of Home Premium, or backup the OS after you install? You can do both. The HD looks good. ;)
 
scolls said:
Well in case my HDD crashes, I want to be able to re-install windows without having to purchase it again.
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Ohh...you can reinstall Windows if you replace your hard drive. At the most, you'd have to call Microsoft and reactivate over the phone. You can make hardware changes to *one* computer without having to purchase another license. You can't, however, run the same license on two computers at the same time. Know what I mean?
 
Wouldn't the Seagate be faster or is there no difference? I'm going to order tonight so I can get these laptops up and running right.
 
mep916 said:
Ohh...you can reinstall Windows if you replace your hard drive. At the most, you'd have to call Microsoft and reactivate over the phone. You can make hardware changes to *one* computer without having to purchase another license. You can't, however, run the same license on two computers at the same time. Know what I mean?
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I understand.
 
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