Wish to recover original WinXP Pro CD; serious help please!

[Helpneed]

My original XP Pro CD became defective by following instruction at here (http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp) while trying to upgrade XP Home SP2 to Pro:zombie: I do not have a copy of the CD! :bawling: (I was initially asking assistance at here (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50451)in this SW forum.) I seriously need your assistance!:sad2:

I would sincerely and profoundly appreciate if you would tell me a method to recover the damaged CD.

Thank you for your time and assistance for me!

[primesuspect]

How could your CD possibly break - they are READ ONLY - nothing you do could make it "become defective" short of physically scratching it with a sharp instrument or physically cracking it somehow. Please clarify how you feel your CD "became defective"?

[Helpneed]

Thank you Primesuspect for your immediate response! I cordially appreciate your help! The product key has become invalid. ( it was initially working) The key remains invalid, though I confirmed correctness of the key by check: the key written on case of the CD, plus unattend.txt in the CD; and tried suggestions of MS at 1 (http:///support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;232142), , 2 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310637)

I had similar occurance when I had little knowledge about computer in the past. When I copied some CDs (ex.Norton 2002...etc) given from my friend to harddrive, those CDs remained working, except MS products; MS Office 97 and Windows 2000 became defective (product key became invalid) after the copy. I asked the friend a help after the occurence, and he taught me of some copy protection system used in CD of certain manufacturer, and use of CD burner for copy in lieu of the 'copy-to-harddrive' method.

I would truly appreciate if you would help me to recover the CD.

Thank you very much!

[primesuspect]

There's no recovery - you probably have the wrong type of key for the CD you have.

There are several "types" of keys -

Retail
Upgrade
Volume License
OEM

To name a few.

If you have a Retail CD, you'll need a Retail key, etc. What does the CD look like? Brown hologram? Silver hologram? Orange screen printing with white text? The key you have doesn't seem to go with the disk you have.

[zero.counter]

Does the beginning of you key begin with FCKGW???

[Helpneed]

Thank you primesuspect and zero.counter for your response!

I got the CD upon purchase of the PC; the CD has Black and White color, plus 'Operating System CD, Microsoft Windows XP Professional' label on the surface.
I also have XP Home SP2 CD with the same color and label on the surface; does this Home CD help recover the Pro CD?

I have Toshiba MK6025GAS harddrive in the PC.

To zero.counter: No.

I desperaely need your help!:(

Thank you so much, primesuspect and zero.counter!

[Enverex]

Your PC/Laptop should have a holographic label on the back or bottom with the key for XP on it as well as telling you what version it is for.

[primesuspect]

That CD sounds sketchy. Does it look homemade? I don't recall any edition of XP being on a black and white label...

[jhenry]

Brian, that just sounds like a Toshiba or Dell recovery disk that contains the OS. I've got a Precision 450 with a similar XP Pro disk.

The disk sounds like an OEM copy. Look for a label that has the key somewhere on your pc.

[Helpneed]

Thank you for all your response!

I decided to order the Operating System CD to the manufacturer.

Thank you all for your time and assistance!:)

[Leonardo]

That CD sounds sketchy. Does it look homemade? I don't recall any edition of XP being on a black and white label...I've seen factory "restore" CDs that have a black and white label. But no, Microsoft, to my knowledge issues no black and white CDs.

Helpneed, does the CD have printed on it "Toshiba" or "Restore?"