re: license key for xp
Monday, April 24, 2006 at 6:09 am
Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Dan Sarandrea, MCSE
(7132 messages posted)
Could it be that the MS Certificate of Authenticity (COA) on the bottom of the laptop
is for XP Home Edition and the computer has XP Pro installed on it? It is exceedingly
rare for a properly licensed and installed OS to come up "bad" on a Windows validation
check, so we have to assuem something was changed.
If so, the way to "go legit" is to acquire the Dell OS Reinstallation CDs that came
with the computer and use them to install the correct edition of XP.
If the laptop was shipped to a customer in the USA after 7/14/04, it has Dell PC
Restore by Symantec installed (or a later equivalent program), which will reimage
the hard disk to factory condition, and that will also solve your problem if you
don't have the CDs.
To check what you have, restart the computer and at the Dell logo, hold down CTRL,
press F11, then release both at the same time. If you have Dell PC Restore, you'll
see the opening screen. You can cancel at that point and not lose anything. If
your computer was shipped after 7/14/04 and you do not get the Dell PC Restore screen,
it's likely the previous owner repartitioned or replaced the had disk drive (HDD),
as the content needed for Dell PC Restore is on a hidden partition on the original
HDD.
If shipped prior to 7/14/04, then you will need the Dell OS Reinstallation CD. You
will find these on E-Bay, and possibly from Dell. If you have a friend with a Dell
laptop, their Dell OS Reinstallation CD for XP Home Ed will most likely work fine.
Dell does a good job of making specific drivers and laptop-centric utilities available
for download.
- Written in response to:
- license key for xp (david solis: Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 10:43 pm)
There are presently no replies to this message.
|
|
All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  | re: license key for xp (Dan Sarandrea, MCSE: Mon, Apr 24, 2006, 6:09 am) |
| |
| |
| |
Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum
|
|
