CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Hi All,
OT (unless I use the computer discussed to access the forum!) so mods please delete if unsuitable.
I have an old computer whose hard drive I have replaced, I also have a (legit) Windows XP disc (SP2) which I hoped to use to put XP onto the computer, however the product key has been lost.
Is there a way to recover the product key or do I need to buy/obtain a new/different copy of XP?
Thanks,
Smudge
Thre are plenty of illegitimate ways to do it... I couldn't comment.
The usual legitemate response on twitter would be "have you tried Ubuntu?"
Don't know anything about PCs...
Presumably it's illegal to install on more than one computer (unless you have a multi-user licence)?
If it's not on any other computer and you are legal owner does it matter how you get key/password for installation??
:-/ that's a shame, I was aiming to use the pc mainly to drive programmes like Ham Radio Deluxe, cwget etc which are unfortunately built to run on windows.
I've never used non windows operating systems, (quiet at the back you apple eaters ;-)), so don't know how much of a pain it would be (especially run alongside windows OS on all my other machines).
You could try wine, it's a kind of emulator for Linux it allows many windows based programs to run.
If you have the original hard disk, pop it back in the pc and get write down the key.
TBH I think you can just acquire a key and use it, Xp went out of mainstream support in 2010, i.e. you can't buy it, there's no support etc.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173
If it's a legitimate copy of Windows XP then it will install and work for 30 days without the activation code. If you've lost the disk box then I think there's also a code on a sticker on the computer case. If you've got neither then I don't know any legal solution.
Computer was used from a friend with an unuseable hard disc, cd is an old one from a long dead machine and for some reason the code wasn't written onto the disc as normal. So no code and by the sounds of it no legal way to fix.
I will have to find another solution then. Thanks anyway :)
if it's an OEM machine you may find there's an OEM code on the under side on the machine. what make model is it
Hi Smudge, If I remember correctly you will get an option to phone Microsoft to authorise a new installation. You can legally do this if you have replaced a motherboard or hard drive. There is probably info available on the Microsoft website. Takes a while on the phone and you need to make sure you write down the authorisation code correctly. It's been a while since I've needed to do this, so it may have changed.
KB321636 describes how to change the product ID on an XP install which might be useful. Looks like the article has been withdrawn by Microsoft, but there seem to be a few copies kicking about.
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts