Reinstalling, but lost XP & MS Office - what to do?

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

Hope someone here can help me! I'd gotten a used computer from a friend, and when another friend worked on it, he lost the disks for XP Home and Microsoft Office that came with the computer. Now, months later, I have to do a reinstall after suspected infection*, and although it does have the service tag and XP key on it, the key's not being accepted as valid, when typed in.

How do I proceed? And does my being the second owner matter, as long as the software is only on one computer? The Dell's 6 years old, but I only have it more recently.



* By the way, April Fool's Day (are you already rolling your eyes?), I returned to my computer, to find that when I clicked on Favorites, from the IE window, the favorites had been replaced by the contents of the Windows folder!! The Favorites folder is still where it was, they just won't show up, under Favorites, in IE, now. I haven't dared to try moving them back.

Nothing I've scanned with, includ S&D, of course, detects a virus or malware, though.

Has anyone else ever heard of such a glitch or symptom?

[tashi]

Hello I_dream_of_Mercury,

Use the validation here: http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/val...displaylang=en

You should be given information on how to obtain a new license key via an upgrade if necessary.

Hope that helps.

[bitman]

I_dream_of_Mercury,

Most likely the Windows CD you're attempting to use isn't a Dell OEM installation CD. The key on a Dell PC can only be used with a CD from Dell, since they are special sets of keys supplied only to that OEM manufaturer.

Your problem isn't a legal license, it's how to get it installed using that key. The same issue will probably exist with the MS Office, though in that case if you don't have the CD case, you probably also don't have the license key, since that's usually on the back of the case. It's possible to collect the MS Office key information from the system before you re-install, but again you'll need an OEM disk to use it.

I'm not certain you can still get this CD from Dell, since they usually only support a system for 3 years or so, so you may have to purchase a new license as Tashi mentioned. If you know someone with the same exact Dell model, the CD might work, but that's not certain since it's also based on when they were produced.

Bitman

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

Tashi and Bitman, thank you for your quick replies and helpful information.

I have been very lucky to get phone validation for XP, after providing what information we had, and with the aid of a valid disk, for installation. If not for phone validation, I think you're exactly right, regarding this issue:

ORIGINAL bitman:

Most likely the Windows CD you're attempting to use isn't a Dell OEM installation CD. The key on a Dell PC can only be used with a CD from Dell, since they are special sets of keys supplied only to that OEM manufaturer.

This is surely why my key wasn't initially being validated, online.

I do have a further question, regarding Office, which I'll put in a separate post.

Tashi, Bitman, thanks again!

[tashi]

That's great to hear I_dream_of_Mercury.

[NoNaMeStoleMyName]

This can really be annoying...
I fix a lot of people's computers and they usually have valid serials on a sticker on the computer.
A lot of them lose their original CD or simply threw it away along with all the other vital stuff (like restore cds), but still have a valid windows serial..!
But since there is a million variations in win xp, every time, I have to go threw activation hell, as if I was cracking it.
Calling microsoft never helps, and noone wants to buy a new copy when you're supposed to already have a valid serial...
It's just very annoying and time consuming...

[drragostea]

You can always order the recovery cd for that system model and you won't need to activate the PC with a serial number. The Genuine Advantage program should cover the activation part.