Windows XP Key but no CD

T

taz

Registered User
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31
Hi,
My laptop crashed tried to install recovery CD but it is damaged tried to get replacement but they no longer do them. Have the product key for Windows XP Home edition already installed but I dont know anyone I can borrow the CD of to boot and use my own key code.

Tried downloading the software from microsoft and put on floppies but when I put floppy into laptop it tells me to remove it.

What can I do besides going out and buying the software pack even though I only need the cd to boot from?????

Thank a million
 
You can also download CD bootable versions of windows xp, if you have a CD burner to get it onto CD (many come with cracks etc to provide illegal use of the software [a crime!] but as you have the key I can't see a problem with you using the download for a legal version.... I could be wrong in that assumption though).

If you don't have a CD-R(W) then you may be able to get a friend to burn it for you.

If you work in an office/company etc with an IT department they may also be able to help in getting a copy of Windows to use with your genuine key.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have tried the download of Microsoft for the floppies and also burned it onto a cd but when that is put in the computer it keeps prompting me that there is no bootable cd in the drive. Am I doing something wrong??
At work they only have professional as oppose to home edition.
 
Are you sure that you downloaded and burned the CDs properly? For example if the download file is an ISO image file then you need to burn this as an image and not as a file. Can you post a link to exactly what you downloaded please?
 
How exactly did you burn these to CD? Just burning the contents of each floppy image to a CD will not create a bootable CD. If you cannot find a bootable CD image that you can burn then you might need to use something like [broken link removed] to create a bootable CD image from the contents of the floppy images.
 
I saved the download to a memory stick and a friend transferred the information to cd for me, this obviously aint the way to do it, is it??
 
No. You need to create a bootable CD from the floppy images. Actually WinImage may not be the total or even partial solution - I posted that from memory. You may need to look at . If this stuff is gobbledygook to you then need to get somebody with technical expertise to help.

I don't really understand why the original floppy approach didn't work. Are you sure that you created the boot floppies properly?
 
taz's link is NOT a full Windows install. It's a few floppy disk images for people who have a Windows CD but can't boot from the CD drive on their machine. There is no point downloading those floppy images -- you still can't install Windows without a working Windows CD.

Could you borrow a Windows XP Home Edition CD from a friend and try your serial number with that?
 
unless you are talking about a few hundred floppy disks, you don't have the right software
 
taz said:
Thanks for the reply. I have tried the download of Microsoft for the floppies and also burned it onto a cd but when that is put in the computer it keeps prompting me that there is no bootable cd in the drive. Am I doing something wrong??
At work they only have professional as oppose to home edition.
Click to expand...
I had assumed that Taz had loaded the software (linked above) onto the floppies to allow booting from CD (on a PC without that option) of a full copy of Windows XP.

It could also be taken, as the two previous posters have taken it, that Taz is loading the same software (to allow booting from CD) onto a CD and trying to load that as Windows XP.

If you don't have a full copy of XP Taz you'll have to pick one up. Either by download or from a friend. It's quite large so I'd try and pick up a copy rather than the download option if possible (I think it's in or around the 500mb mark, but could be wrong).
 
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