Friend has a computer which she is passing onto her father. It was pretty messy and couldn't get rid of the BT stuff, so we thought it would be a good idea to format it and start him off with a nice clean PC (he's not very PC literate, so want to make life easy for him). She hadn't got a Windows disk, so I said I'll do it with one of mine, but put her serial key in (proper Microsoft label stuck on the top of the case). I've done this before with one of mine, where the recovery partition was not working, but I had the proper licence/label, and I had no problem with it. So formatted her drive and installed XP, but when it got to wanting the serial number, it said it didn't recognise it! (I couldn't enter my number, as that belongs to my machine.) When I looked closely at her label with the serial number on, it also said XP multi-media edition. I seem to vaguely recall that this was a slightly different version, so I assume that it expected a different serial number. Is the serial number embedded in the disk? Would Microsoft sell another copy of the XP CD without charging 80, if we provide them with the serial number? Is there anyway of getting around this? Not asking for anything illegal, as friend would have originally paid for the PC and disk/recovery, but all partitions are now one and formatted, so cannot get at any recovery section. Help! All she has at the moment is an empty formatted disk, so the PC is useless. (And if Matt says anything about me and technology again, I shall go down to Bristol and beat him up! )
Download a copy of XP Media Centre and burn to CD then install that version. Its the only way really. Or borrow a copy of Windows XP Media Centre.
I don't know anyone with the Media Centre version. Is there anyone with a copy who would like to help me out? I do have the licence, honestly. Or where to download from?
Windows is Ghey, and Mat is a fanboy. So he can help you out. Although at the moment i am dual booting my Macbook with XP just so i can run ETKA. LMFAO! Unfortunately, i support about 5000 XP desktops on a daily basis in my job.
I do far too much that OSX wouldnt support. Ive nothing against mac but i find windows easy to work with so why change
Frankly I would like to throw this wretched PC out the window. I got 'volunteered' for the job and I'm crap at PCs. I used to teach applications, not OSs and people always expect you to repair their computers for nothing, don't they? This is the second PC this weekend I've been asked to sort out. Why doesn't anyone ever ask me about anything I actually know? Sorry! </rant over!> thanks for trying to help me.
Edit. Ignore my rant. Stella, hope you get it sorted!! Its annoying though isnt it. I always get asked, and constantly put people off nowadays. Its not worth the hassle of seeing it through until the damn things work again. I supported hardware and software in the past. Now i just say, take it back to the shop.
If it's XP Home let me know and I'll pm you a legit serial number to use for free. (not dodgy) just I've a few spares.
Media Centre is based on xp professional and not xp home hense why the serial key would not work it should work with a retail version xp professional if you can borrow a disk edit if it is a oem key you will need a oem disk not a retail one
Thanks for all your help, guys, I really appreciate it. I was trying to sort this PC for d-in-law, so tried my best. I can usually get them to work, but like said above, the problem was because it was Media edition of Windows. In the end, rang my local computer shop, who is now going to fix it and put proper Win Media edition on for 25. It's worth that to get rid of the hassle! Next time anyone asks me, I'll take your advice, Deako! Having said that, I will now be sorting out my main PC next week, so be on standby for when I manage to mess that one up as well!
What he said - but I'm biased. Have you tried Parallels Deako? Well worth the money, but you might need a memory upgrade to support two OSs in parallel. Microsoft have been working hard to clamp down on licence piracy - and separate their licence keys into different classes, so you have to have the right class of key for the disc you use. The OEM vs Retail distinction is designed to stop people from 'borrowing' a licence from work. They've also been listing known pirated keys, so if you get a key from a mate, who gets it from a mate, it could well be a known one and be rejected. 25 to sort it out sounds like a bargain, as long as it's a 'clean' key.
It is, Mike. D-in-law bought the original PC but lost the disks. The licence number is on one of those stick label/licence things stuck on the PC. So there is a licence, I was just short of the disks to reinstall it.
Parallels is great, but power hungry, even with 2GB ram on a Macbook. Dual booting works better for me, considering i only need XP for a couple of apps.
