os reinstall

rtrg

Hopefully this will be a good source of the info I need. I have 3 DELL 8100 P4 towers. All WERE loaded with WIN 98 SE. My tech friend reloaded them with XP PRO. All 3 were targets from outside bad guys. After all 3 died from these bad guys , I swapped the 20 gig c drive from #3 and put it in #1. Reanimated #1, finished loading COMODO TIME MACHINE that the 10 gig would not allow. Now the next issue. I swapped the c drives again from a GATEWAY and HP, a 40 gig and an 80 gig already XP PRO. Of course they do not work. I have an AUTHENTIC copy of XP PRO, XP2 with key code coming to me. I was told to use it I only need to power up, insert cd, F2 for the boot screen, select "BOOT FROM CD, accept DEFAULT settings as they are presented, and let it do its thing. Then I need to download the ESSENTIAL drivers from DELL. From there the system is now operational and I can then download all my usual software and programs.

Did I describe the process correctly? What is the difference between a INSTALLATION CD, A REINSTALLATION CD, A RECOVERY CD, A RESTORE CD? I found a DELL OPERATING CD XP HOME, "ALREADY INSTALLED". I tried F2 as above. It did not work. Is this because the cd is looking for HOME that does not exist on the c drive which is PRO? The boot screen did not change. Is it supposed to go into the install phase immediately after selecting "BOOT FROM CD"? Any info helpful. Do I need to use the key code? If yes where do I enter it? The supplier says that the copy will not use it, only the original copy will. Is this true?

RichD

OK. I am slightly confused by your post and I am not sure what you have already done and what you are trying to do but I hope I can answer a few of your questions.

Firstly a Windows XP CD is a Windows XP CD. All purchased CDs are the same (exluding things like service packs and updates). These CDs come from Microsoft. System Restore CDs are a bit different.

A Restore CD comes from the system manufacturer (ie Dell or Compaq). These are CDs that contain Windows plus all of the other drivers and software and they will resore your system back to the state it was in when you bought it.

Next point you should have a separate licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on. The licence is effectively the CD key that you input when you install Windows. If you have purchased a pre built system with windows pre installed you should have (somewhere on the system) a greenish sticker that says something like Genuine Windows XP Professional and has the CD Key on it. This may also be on your documentation. This is the key that you need to use to install the operating system on that PC.

If you do not have one licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on then you do not have legal copies of Windows. You mentioned that these systems all had Windows 98 installed but that your friend installed XP on them all. Did you purchase three copies of Windows and your friend installed them or did he/she bring a disk round and install it?

rtrg

RichD wrote:

OK. I am slightly confused by your post and I am not sure what you have already done and what you are trying to do but I hope I can answer a few of your questions.

Firstly a Windows XP CD is a Windows XP CD. All purchased CDs are the same (exluding things like service packs and updates). These CDs come from Microsoft. System Restore CDs are a bit different.

A Restore CD comes from the system manufacturer (ie Dell or Compaq). These are CDs that contain Windows plus all of the other drivers and software and they will resore your system back to the state it was in when you bought it.

Next point you should have a separate licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on. The licence is effectively the CD key that you input when you install Windows. If you have purchased a pre built system with windows pre installed you should have (somewhere on the system) a greenish sticker that says something like Genuine Windows XP Professional and has the CD Key on it. This may also be on your documentation. This is the key that you need to use to install the operating system on that PC.

If you do not have one licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on then you do not have legal copies of Windows. You mentioned that these systems all had Windows 98 installed but that your friend installed XP on them all. Did you purchase three copies of Windows and your friend installed them or did he/she bring a disk round and install it?

rtrg

Let me explain. I have a DELL REINSTALLATION CD for these 3 8100s. Although these towers were loaded with 98 when made, I had XP PRO when I got them. All 3 crashed at different times. I did not have the cd at the time. Later I learned how to install XP from this cd. I used larger c drives only because I had them. The cd install went well, no issues. The system did NOT ask for a kry code, or personal info. The key codes on the 3 cases are would probably not work even if it were asked for, again 98 versus xp. All 3 are up and running. The tower was presented in RAW condition. Only the built in programs were functional, I added the rest. During install the CD found and installed all the drivers for all the hardware,software in use. Luckey for me. What XP cd my friend uses I have no clue, I never asked. He has since moved. I am now on my own. That is why I post in forums. I was also told that THIS cd could be used for non DELLS as well. Only access to the boot screen would be different, what I call prepping the tower for cd use. I hope this tells you what you wanted to know.

RichD wrote:

OK. I am slightly confused by your post and I am not sure what you have already done and what you are trying to do but I hope I can answer a few of your questions.

Firstly a Windows XP CD is a Windows XP CD. All purchased CDs are the same (exluding things like service packs and updates). These CDs come from Microsoft. System Restore CDs are a bit different.

A Restore CD comes from the system manufacturer (ie Dell or Compaq). These are CDs that contain Windows plus all of the other drivers and software and they will resore your system back to the state it was in when you bought it.

Next point you should have a separate licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on. The licence is effectively the CD key that you input when you install Windows. If you have purchased a pre built system with windows pre installed you should have (somewhere on the system) a greenish sticker that says something like Genuine Windows XP Professional and has the CD Key on it. This may also be on your documentation. This is the key that you need to use to install the operating system on that PC.

If you do not have one licence for each PC that you have Windows installed on then you do not have legal copies of Windows. You mentioned that these systems all had Windows 98 installed but that your friend installed XP on them all. Did you purchase three copies of Windows and your friend installed them or did he/she bring a disk round and install it?

RichD

So you have three Dell desktops that came pre-loaded with '98SE. and since then you have replaced the hard disks and installed XP from a disk that your friend has leant you. Is that correct?

What problem are you trying to fix if all three PCs work or are you just trying to re-format them?

rtrg

RichD wrote:

So you have three Dell desktops that came pre-loaded with '98SE. and since then you have replaced the hard disks and installed XP from a disk that your friend has leant you. Is that correct?

What problem are you trying to fix if all three PCs work or are you just trying to re-format them?

I needed to reload the XP PRO OS on all three at different times because all 3 died at one time or another. I used this DELL CD to do it. I was presented with a fully functional tower in RAW condition. Simply added my usual programs. For #3 i needed to reuse the 10 gig C drive for the sake of the OS, add an 80 for extra space, reformat it, make MASTER/ SLAVE configuration because of incorrect screen during install process. I now have all 3 running. #2 and#3 are now back ups. For #3 when I download files, will the system ask me now where I want the download to go? Drive(s), folder, MY DOCUMENTS? For #1 and #2 that does NOT happen, single drive in each. That is true for both FF and OPERA. Ie stores downloads in MY DOCUMENTS by default. I expect FF and OPERA and IE in #3 to ask because there are now 2 hdds. Can I reuse the DELL CD to reload the OS in my GATEWAY should it ever die? I would imagine that only the PREP for cd use will be different. I got this CD at a second hand store for $1. It came in handy. Hope this answers your questions.

RichD

Kind of. You are using the same CD to re-install Winows on three PCs. You may not be aware of this but this is illegal, as at no point along the way have you purchased a geniune Windows XP licence. The restore disk you are using is an OEM disk for another PC. This means that disk is only licenced for use with the PC it was supplied with. The first thing you need to do is purchase three licences or three copies of Windows. One for each PC. If you are going to buy a new OS you may as well go for Windows 7 although if your PC came preloaded with 98SE I doubt it will run 7. You can buy your OS from HERE. There is a Windows XP disk at the bottom.