Lost Os Disk

jumbly

Following a security overhaul of my pcs/laptops (prompted by virus), ably guided by alienrik, sunshine54, browntoa et al on this forum, I am now in the process of instituting a backup/recovery proceedure for said machines, but I can't find the Windows XP disk for one of them. Any ideas?

[Deleted User]

Top drawer?

Under the sofa?

Cat sleeping on it?

Marty_J

Does you need a separate disk for each one?

As long as you use the same edition of Windows, your licences should all work on the one disk.

MrMuttley

The majority of newer PCs come with a recovery disk or a built in recovery partition on the hard disk

What computer are you missing the disk for?

jumbly

Don't I need the actual disk that was installed on each machine, for the serial number or something?
It's a system I bought from a local PC shop, made up by them.
I'll giv them a bell. Just a bit wary of their advice, cos when I rang them re. recent virus infection, they said I'd need to reformat the hard drive & re-install windows which proved not to be the case - oh, and backing up & restoring my data files would have been £60.

[Deleted User]

jumbly wrote: »

Don't I need the actual disk that was installed on each machine, for the serial number or something?
It's a system I bought from a local PC shop, made up by them.
I'll giv them a bell. Just a bit wary of their advice, cos when I rang them re. recent virus infection, they said I'd need to reformat the hard drive & re-install windows which proved not to be the case - oh, and backing up & restoring my data files would have been £60.

If it was an OEM;

Whoever sold you the computer should have provided you with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) to go with the installation of Windows, this would include a sticker on the machine containing the serial number.

If you are without the serial number, you need to either seek a replacement from whoever you bought the computer from or you need to purchase a new copy of Windows.

If it's a retail boxed product;

Contact Microsoft on 0870 60 10 100 and they should be able to replace the discs for you, although they may charge a small fee for doing so.

gaming_guy

no - if you have a xp pro retail key, you can use any retail disk providing that it is an XP Pro disk (same goes for xp home).

if you have an XP Pro oem key, you can use any xp pro oem disk (same for xp home).

as for vista, any key (doesnt matter if its oem or retail) can be used with any vista disk. when you enter the product key into the setup wizard, it will detect the version of vista that the key is for and give you the option to install that version.

Marty_J

jumbly wrote: »

Don't I need the actual disk that was installed on each machine, for the serial number or something?

You just need a valid Windows licence and a copy of whatever edition the licence is for. Microsoft don't make a special CD for every computer.

jumbly

Thanks everybody!
It's got the sticker with the key on it (scramble under desk with torch & magnifying glass), but it might take a couple of stabs at guessing it correctly as the print is so small and worn - are they Os or Qs, 6s or Gs??? so I should be able to use my other WinXP(home) disk in the event that I need to reload it.
Is it worth creating a recovery disk these days? (seem to remember doing it with an old Win98 system years ago) and if so, how's it done?

gaming_guy

jumbly wrote: »

Thanks everybody!
It's got the sticker with the key on it (scramble under desk with torch & magnifying glass), but it might take a couple of stabs at guessing it correctly as the print is so small and worn - are they Os or Qs, 6s or Gs??? so I should be able to use my other WinXP(home) disk in the event that I need to reload it.
Is it worth creating a recovery disk these days? (seem to remember doing it with an old Win98 system years ago) and if so, how's it done?

it may be worth running the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder if you are having problems with reading the worn out print on the sticker.

jumbly

Nice one gaming_guy, the Magical Jelly Bean did the trick! I was way out on some of the characters (they were all Qs & Gs, not 0s & 6s) so it's now got another sticker with the key in a much larger font, protected by several layers of sellotape! Old age don't come alone!