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Broken XP pro disc

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by 22048179042880848589126767153620-22048179042880848589126767153620

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Hi all,
I'm trying to install xp pro onto a dell optiplex gx620(with no operating system). The only problem I have is that I have gone and broken the xp disc but have taken a copy of a friends disc. The problem with this is when installing on the new hard drive the cd wont boot on startup,I have checked the bios to make sure the cd-rom is in the correct place in the boot sequence, is there any way around this? say with a boot floppy that will start off then go to the copy cd to install?

9 replies

by thumbsup2

Try using the copy to boot in another machine. It could just be a bad copy. Does it give any erros when you try to boot to it?

Let us know how it turns out and we'll go from there.

by tintoman

Without doubt, your copied XP CD was incorrectly copied by your friend or whoever did it.
In part there are issues with copying discs and violating license agreements etc, in general though, if you purchase a retail version of any software there no reason at all why you shouldn't make a backup copy for your own use in case of emergency.
However, if you did buy it retail then the license key you bought will ONLY work if you install with a retail disk, likewise an OEM license key only works with an OEM installation disc etc. It is the misuse and duplications of licenses which constiture piracy.
As for asking Dell for an OEM installation disk? ....in your dreams I'd say.

by w2ktechman

you will run into problems with the product key. If you use the one assigned to your system (oem) it will not work with your friends disk (most likely). If you use your friends key, you will likely run into validation issues with MS.

Best bet, contact Dell, or look in their drivers area, see about having them send you a new disk.

by maniacman

The reason the copy won't boot is most likely because it was done wrong with a simple file drag and drop instead of a disc duplication using the burning software. Nevertheless, you really shouldn't be using a friend's CD, as that in itself constitutes piracy. You should contact Dell and have them ship you a replacement OEM copy of XP. When you buy a PC with a preloaded copy of Windows, it's OEM and according to your warranty and EULA, you cannot install another version of Windows from a different set of media without violating the EULA and the OEM warranty.

by 22048179042880848589126767153620-22048179042880848589126767153620

Thanks for your help guys. The disc I had was a proper copy that i bought and is legal, so i thought it would be ok just to get a copy of the other disc to have a way of installing windows. The pc i got is second hand of someone i know who had it left over from a project he was working on. I tried to install win98 onto the pc but it would hang when it gets to the detect plug and play hardware part. I then have to startup in safe mode and followed all the directions on microsofts support site. I then created a win98 boot disc did fdisk etc and managed to get the computer to start with cd-rom support but then i can't install xp from there. Sorry if i'm confusing!!

by thumbsup2

You must have had an XP Upgrade CD then huh, if it required the 98 CD first? Hopefully, you didn't actually put 98 on and then do an upgrade? There's a way to get XP upgrade to go on clean without having 98 "on" the machine. But, if you're up and running and satisfied with the outcome, I guess you're all set. Just don't forget to get SP2 put on and all the patches after that so you're operating as safe as is possible.

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