I’ve read a number of threads on this forum about changing registration keys, restoring XP, and so forth. But have yet to find anything here concerning a problem I have.
This is about a home system, not one of the systems at work. A friend bought a machine, new, with WinXP home installed. No backup or install CD provided. I presume it’s a legal copy as he’s survived numerous MS validity checks while downloading updates and such, and he’s got a legit looking sticker on the box, and it’s a box which came from a well known sellor (HP).
The machine has a couple years on it now, and the friend is nervous and wants to do create a backup/restore disk for his OS. Primarily, for usage in case the HD crashes. The machine does all he wants, fast enough for his purposes. So he sees no need to upgrade the machine at this time.
Vista is now out but my friend does not want to bother with it for at least the next year or two. Until any major bugs are worked out, AND because he uses some specialty software in his work which we already know will NOT work with Vista. Makers of said specialty software (there are 3 applications which are in this category which he uses and needs) are working on the problem. But who knows how long before they solve the problem?
This kind of thing is outside my knowledge as what I do for a living doesn’t actually involve having to do installs, except for the normal sort. ie Have computer, have OS install disk, run it. That is, if new computer doesn’t already have the OS installed. Then I install and configure a number of very specialized apps for the line of work I’m in. Then I’m done. Any problems down the road with the computer and it’s OS itself is the problem of our customer and/or our IT department. My own specialty is a specialized kind of programming (machine control), configuring or modifying those specialized apps, and some networking stuff such as getting a machine onto a network, testing and fixing network connections, etc.
So … does anyone know a workable method of getting the OS “install” files off this guy’s machine so he can burn em to CD. I presume that once he can do this, he should be able to reinstall to the same machine (motherboard) with just a change out of a hard drive if it becomes necessary and then use the code on his sticker to do a legit reactivation?
I told him I believe this should be legal. All he wants is to be able to repair the original machine and still use original OS. He’s got original CD’s for all the apps he wants and needs. He understands the license is tied to THAT machine, he’s not asking to be able to transfer the OS to another. If motherboard fails, for instance, he understands he’ll just have to bite the bullet and try to find a replacement with XP on it or go with a machine with Vista loaded and HOPE the app makers get their non-compatibility issues solved by that time.
Thanks for any suggestions.