VaKo Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Basically, what I'm suggesting is stealing. Only the corp. edition is activation free. If you buy xp pro in a store it will still need activation. The advantages of Pro over home is that its not been neutered. If you use your head you can find solutions to your problem. The moral and legal issues are your own to deal with, so no bitching if a Microsoft backed death squad takes your family away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 Basically, what I'm suggesting is stealing. Only the corp. edition is activation free. If you buy xp pro in a store it will still need activation. The advantages of Pro over home is that its not been neutered. If you use your head you can find solutions to your problem. The moral and legal issues are your own to deal with, so no bitching if a Microsoft backed death squad takes your family away. so im better off sticking with my legal xp unless i feel badass enough to steal the key from a computer not using it? well call me agent bauer... :) being a media center pc though, wont i be better off trying for media center edition? or id need a program compatiable with windows that would record tv (from any video input on the computer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 i retract my previous statement where i said the only problem left was the activation... it let me reactivate it after i restarted, and now i can't start the computer (it gives me the nltdr cant load dsifji), and i ran bootconfig from the xpdisk, ran bootfix, ran fixmbr and i still can't get on, so im going to have to reinstall i guess... unless theres something else i can do? anyway. im just going to format drive using the xp disk (fat35 file system because it ran fine onthat f/s before) and then reinstall xp, fresh install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 NO. Step 1: Download and burn ubuntu (or any type of bootable cd with fdisk on it). Step 2: Delete the partition from the disc. Step 3: Get a known good copy of XP Home SP2 Step 4: Update the drivers with driverpacks.net (you need Lan, chipset and mass storage packs) Step 5: Install This should fix your problems. Don't use fat32 either, use NTFS, its a much better file system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 NO. Step 1: Download and burn ubuntu (or any type of bootable cd with fdisk on it). Step 2: Delete the partition from the disc. Step 3: Get a known good copy of XP Home SP2 Step 4: Update the drivers with driverpacks.net (you need Lan, chipset and mass storage packs) Step 5: Install This should fix your problems. Don't use fat32 either, use NTFS, its a much better file system. it is a good copy of xp, i used it on one of my laptops (the cd came with the laptop). but i put the cd in and it said "repair?" and i said "of course!" ... and here i am, with the same setup i had before. only this time, it fixed everything that went wrong the first time i installed. i am in the process of downloading a ubuntu cd (ubuntu studio, if that makes any difference, its for another computer but it should have all the same setup utilities right?) right now its on NTFS, and ill stay with that. im not going to do anything intense with this computer though until iits been running stable for a week or 2 (like putting all my files on it, setting everything up etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I think you can install the same base of windows on as many machines as you want, so long as you don't try to activate them all within the same 2 week period. There is a time limit to when the same Key can be activated again, and they use this to block people from pirating copies of XP. But I remember somewhere that it said you can get around it if you activate it after a certain amount of time. If twenty people tried to activate a pirated copy from atorrent or something, all within the same 2 weeks they would reject the activation and make you call a 1-800 number to get a new key. I am not sure if it is still a 2 week time period, but maybe google it. I know I read or heard it somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Use an OEM version of windows XP, not a laptop recovery CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Use an OEM version of windows XP, not a laptop recovery CD. ... another full install? ill try an OEM version (ill assume that i can get one if i search google or something?) when i find out what version i have a key to tomorrow (just to make sure when i look for keys, is there a place you can check on the computer what key is registered? so i can compare it to the p/key sticker on the case?) and, ill try finding the time period thing for p/key expiration, it seems logical that they have to recycle some product keys or else they would keep growing and growing in length Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeoneE1se Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 if you're not stealing the key is it illegal to download a disk IMG of say XP because they don't sell the disk only licenses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 if you're not stealing the key is it illegal to download a disk IMG of say XP because they don't sell the disk only licenses? Technically yes. The school XP key idea /is/ legal however providing you ask the IT staff. The copy of Windows has been purchased but undoubtedly is sitting unused because as VaKo said the machines get imaged anyway in most cases. It's the easiest legal way to get a free key. I have to say though I've never seen anyone have quite this much trouble installing a copy of Windows, it should be as simple as inserting the disc, booting, using the XP partition manager in setup to delete the existing partitions, create a new one, formatting it, installing it, activating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 He's using his laptop recovery CD as an install disc... hence all his problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 This should fix your problems. Don't use fat32 either, use NTFS, its a much better file system. Compared to FAT32 that is, compared to say... UFS, EXT, RaiserFS... it's still fairly rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 He's using his laptop recovery CD as an install disc... hence all his problems. Ahh, didn't realise it was a recovery CD, thought it was a regular Home CD he got with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 it's not a recovery disk, it in no way pertains to my laptop. the label says "xp installation disk for distro. with a new pc only" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Ah. Well in that case use the partition manager to delete the old partition before you reinstall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Ah. Well in that case use the partition manager to delete the old partition before you reinstall. no need to reinstall now i guess, i used repair from the cd to fix the install. i see where you were coming from, as usually recovery cds come with laptops (atleast of the 3 i've bought) but this one is just a bottom line xp home install disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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