Hard disk failed, does my copy of Windows XP die with it?

keithnic_2

Hi, I bought a PC from Dell in 2006. They didn't supply the Windows XP Media Center 2005 edition disk with it, it was a partition on the hard disk. The great things about Dells are every now and again you can wipe your hard disk so its exactly as it was as it came out of the factory. Speeds everything up.
However, I did this recently and the hard disk had some kind of failure and the PC won't boot up. I used another PC to format it.
Have I lost my copy of the Windows XP operating system? I'm guessing I have. I don't suppose I can get Dell to resupply as I don't pay them for support and I don't pay Microsoft either.
The disk seems to be fine now so I was thinking about purchasing a copy of Win XP off Ebay along with a product key. Is that my best solution?

TrickyDicky101

Do you have the product key (usually on a sticker somewhere on your computer) and a copy of your operating system on disk? Dells use a proprietary version of XP I believe so you will need another Dell OS CD to activate with your Dell sticker key.

keithnic_2

Yes the product key is on the base unit of the PC. Dell did not supply a physical CD with the Windows XP operating system on it as it was saved in a partition on the disk.
Does that mean I just need a XP Media Center disk and I can activate with my own product key?

spannerzone

Essentially yes, you need either a dell supplied CD of the operating system or an OEM Windows installation CD of the same edition/version operating system.

keithnic_2

I guess a Dell CD without product key (as I can use my own) will be cheaper than an OEM version with product key?

WhiteChristmas

There are legitimate Dell recovery discs in the torrentsphere if you know what you're doing.

Hammyman

If you would like a copy of Windows XP Media Center edition, PM me. I can burn you a set of installation discs from genuine ones, not possibly malware loaded ones from dodgy websites. You can install it using the CD key on the base of your laptop and you'll just need to get the drivers from Dells website.

zzzLazyDaisy

If you phone Dell technical support and explain what has happened they will probably send you the disc free of charge. That's what happened when I had a similar problem, although granted it was about three years ago. It's worth the cost of a phone call.

Laz123

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

If you phone Dell technical support and explain what has happened they will probably send you the disc free of charge. That's what happened when I had a similar problem, although granted it was about three years ago. It's worth the cost of a phone call.

The same happened to me when the recovery partition didn't work. They sent me an installationcd and a resources cd and I was 3 years out of warranty.

spannerzone

Sounds like it's well worth calling Dell going by the above posts, personally I'd not recommend getting software via a Torrent site.