Hi a guy I work with caught a nasty virus and wanted his hard drive reformatted so he tried and wipped out the info but could not get it to reformat gave it to me and I was trying to reinstall XP with his product key thats on the label of his case. But wouldnt you know that key is only valid for use with the operating system CD that was shipped with his DEll dimension 2300 computer back in 2000 but he lost it and dell wants 200.00 us for them to replace it. Anyone have any idea where I can get one of these I have tried EBAY but no luck. He may have to fork out some money for a key from MS but I figure I could try you fine folks here first.

Thanks for any help

Will

If you're not concerned about legality, a little creative googling will produce product keys for just about any software program available ;)

If he had XP on it, how did it get there if the machine was orginally shipped with 2000 from Dell? If he doesn't have a valid license, then he'll need to purchase one. So, either get the software from MS, or try eBay. I know you said you already did that, but there are plenty of auctions listing what he'll need.

Life is more painless for those who are brainless.

Jennifer I think I said it shipped in 2000 not that it shipped with 2000! it has the MS genuine product key for windows XP sticker on the side of the case I wanted to do this legally and correctly so I will avoid the google key approch I am hopeing some one has this disk and could make me a copy....

Try holding down the CTRL key and press F11 during a boot to access the system recovery wizard.

If the drive hasn't been repartitioned, it might work. There might be a small recovery partition on the hard drive.

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

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Thanks ham I tried that but it was missing the partition. I have tried all my tricks but if you have more let me know. as a side note I hate Dell

"I wanted to do this legally and correctly so I will avoid the google key approch I am hopeing some one has this disk and could make me a copy...."

Uhhhhhh...fyi, having someone 'make you a copy' isn't legal either

you should be able to set the bios to boot from CD 1st and then when you get the prompt on reboot hit any key and start a fresh installation with any XP disc, but make sure it is the proper one (home or pro) that's listed on the case. Then you should be able to put in his XP product key

Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

Polizi

I have a Dimension Resource CD. Do you have an ftp I could upload the cd image to?

I have a Dimension Resource CD. Do you have an ftp I could upload the cd image to?

See that's why you always burn a backup copy of windows os for this very reason.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7800GT
SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI

See if the below site is the correct CD.
Same person is surplusbytes on EBAY.

http://www.crazydecal.com/surplusbytes/prodpages/software/xppro.htm

hey street, thanks for the link

Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

XpUser4Real-

This CD is only good if you have A valid key code but,Good price.

I do have a code, thanks

Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

Yes Jam that might be considered Illegal but I was told by Dell to get a copy from someone else and install it but use the product key from the case. I have several copies of windows XP but they will not accept the key since it is strictly for use with a dell installation CD. this computer had XP Home installed and It is not mine so no disk are availble from the guy who ownes it.

shmyrbob thanks for the offer but I dont not have an FTP what ever that is how do I get one????

Polizi

An ftp is a program that is used to transfer files between pcs. Programs like wsftp, servu. If you google 'ftp server' you will see lots of options. If you have a router/firewall you will have to open port 21 or what ever port the ftp program uses.

Then I can upload the cd images to you. Once you have the images, they can be burnt with nero or what ever burning program you use.

<<Thanks ham I tried that but it was missing the partition. I have tried all my tricks but if you have more let me know. as a side note I hate Dell>>

He lost his CD and somehow that is Dell's fault? Puleeez.

GXI Man, I didnt loss the cd the guy who ownes it did. Where in my post do you see me blameing Dell?? I hate dell for my own reasons but it my choice to dislike them if you dont thats great.

You made it sound like the two points were connected. I just drew the line.

You will need the correct version of XP from Dell. A SP 2 disk will not work on a SP 1 key.

Yep, I just had a similar problem. A friend's Dimension 8200 developed a failed Hard Drive. I replaced it and asked him to bring over all his disks so that I could reinstall the OS. I got a pile of disks but no "Dell Resource CD" containg the OS. I spent about an hour on the phone and online tech support. They don't offer the option to download an image of the CD, but connected me to sales. After much wasted time the sales person said that they no longer sell XP SP1 and that I'd need to purchase SP2 for $200. Of course, I'd also need to wait for the disk to be shipped. Granted, my friend should have held on to the CD, but $#!+ happens. I'm not pleased with the customer support. At any rate, my guy paid for an OS and should be able to reinstall it without shelling out an additional $200. So I'd likle to be able to download a CD image of the resource disk.

try ebay it is a lot cheeper or better yet, go to the local collage with a pizza and a six pack of mountain dew. You will have a line of geeks around the block and one of them will have copies of the software you need.