Can anyone answer a very confusing question for me? I have recently purchased a new PC with the following spec: Pentium D 6.0GHz/2GB DDR2/4ooGB Hard Drive. The retailer who sold me this PC has tested the PC to make sure that everything works ok and has then removed the OS which was XP so that I can install my own OS to cut down on the cost. However, the retailer has advised me that my copy of XP (which is an original) must not be more than 2 years old otherwise my PC may crash. The problem is i'm not sure how old my disc is although i do know it has service pack 1 on it. Can anyone explain why my PC may crash if my XP disc is olders than 2 years. As i understand it I can install my current XP disc and then download service pack 2 and all the updates. Is the retailer trying to squeeze some more money out of me to buy a new XP disc or can my computer crash if try to install my XP disc if it is more than 2 years old?

Your being squeezed. What does age have to do with it. I still have dos 1.1 and win 1.* that can be loaded and not crash. If your winxp is valid you should be able to load it and get the sp2....which is every where. Updates will need a valid ser# and varification from microsoft. If the cd is from dell (from above computer make) then it wont load into a non dell system. But if it is a non oem...not dell hp ect then it should load and install with no problems. You can also get sp2 and a free program to slipstream xp sp1 + sp2 into the computer at the same time of install. Just need to burn them to a cd. Hope this helps.

XP pre Service Pack 1 will not recognise a hard drive larger than 137GB, you can create a Custom XP CD with nLite to include SP2: http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

Tend to echo the idea you're being "squeezed" by the dealer... The sp-1 CD will be fine if it's a non "tweaked/phyxed" dealer's OEM version (e.g. Dell etc...) or is physically damaged; but you will need to download/install sp-2 - one way or another. The drive is 400Gig - and as above you will need sp-2 to allow XP to see/use it all. Besides slipstreaming it in during setup you could adopt a slightly different approach. Configure the drive with two partitions; Primary for OS/apps/utils etc.; balance (Extended) for data etc. Make the Primary perhaps 100-125Meg (more than "enuff" for most use?); XP-sp1 will handle that fine? Once OS installed OK download/install sp-2 to gain access to balance of drive; and then use XP Disk Admin tools to configure/format it.

"100-125Meg (more than "enuff" for most use?)" You mean gig don't you, not meg? Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?

mmm - the trouble sum keebords can droppe wun inne...? Sum of them is not smart enuff to know Megs phrom Gigs... Ta Wanderer - it indeed ought to have read 100-125Gig...

" Is the retailer trying to squeeze some more money out of me to buy a new XP disc or can my computer crash if try to install my XP disc if it is more than 2 years old?" The retailer doesn't know what he's talking about. XP CDs with SP2 included on them have been released since about 2004 - that's a lot more than two years. Even if your XP CD is older than that, using it won't cause your computer to crash. - if it has SP1 updates included, it will recognize hard drives larger than 137gb manufacturer's size / = 128gb in Windows, and USB 2.0. - if it DOES NOT have SP1 updates included, if you have hard drives or hard drive partitions larger than 137gb manufacturer's size / = 128gb in Windows, Setup will not be able to recognize drives or partitions larger than that and USB 2.0 and will see them as 128gb in Windows and that can't be fixed in XP itself after you load SP2 updates (it CAN be fixed using third party programs), so you are better off to make a slipstreamed CD as suggested in response 1 and 2 with SP2 updates integrated into it. Whether it has SP1 or SP2 updates included is printed on the original CD, or if it is a copy, it's often apparent in the volume label of the CD. Whenever you load Windows from a regular Windows CD (or DVD) from scratch, after Setup is finished you must load the drivers for the mboard, particularly the main chipset drivers, in order for Windows to have the proper drivers for and information about your mboard hardware, including it's AGP or PCI-E, ACPI, and hard drive controller support. If you have the CD that came with the mboard, all the necessary drivers are on it. If you load drivers from the web, brand name system builders and mboard makers often DO NOT have the main chipset drivers listed in the downloads for your model - in that case you must go to the maker of the main chipset's web site, get the drivers, and load them. E.g. Your USB 2.0 may not be recognized until you load the main chipset drivers.