where can i buy xp from at a good price ?

scoobydo_2

hi does anyone know where I can buy windows xp from as my lovely (not ) daughter has got some sort of virus on home pc and it has deleted windows installer and is causin loads of problems .Will have to format drives but don't have a copy of xp .

albertross_2

See the malware sticky thread, or try ebuyer.com if you really want the disk.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893803

jamalfatty

If you do go ahead and buy it, look for an OEM version, will be a lot cheaper

b33r

jamalfatty wrote: »

If you do go ahead and buy it, look for an OEM version, will be a lot cheaper

Although morally it is a lot better, did you know it is still technically illegal to use an OEM if you aren't buying and building a system. I certainly don't agree with it and only found out myself couple of weeks ago when someone showed me it in the End-User-Agreement, shambolic show by Microsoft!

jamalfatty

b33r wrote: »

Although morally it is a lot better, did you know it is still technically illegal to use an OEM if you aren't buying and building a system. I certainly don't agree with it and only found out myself couple of weeks ago when someone showed me it in the End-User-Agreement, shambolic show by Microsoft!

Depends what the definition of building a system is, most retailers will insist you buy some hardware with it, so find the cheapest component possible and you've fulfilled the requirement

rockabilly_spike

scoobydo wrote: »

hi does anyone know where I can buy windows xp from as my lovely (not ) daughter has got some sort of virus on home pc and it has deleted windows installer and is causin loads of problems .Will have to format drives but don't have a copy of xp .

Does your PC have a Windows License Key sticker already?

if so you can use ANY CD that is the same version (home or pro) Know anyone you could borrow one from and use your existing license key?

You could also take it to your local PC repair shop and get them to format it and make you a backup CD, we normally charge around £35 but unless you're in South tyneside....

if you're using a dodgy copy of XP, best get a proper one before they're gone for good.

You shouldnt need to buy a new copy if yours is already properly licensed.

elektra

rockabilly_spike wrote: »

if you're using a dodgy copy of XP, best get a proper one before they're gone for good.

Microsoft has just detected that we are using a dodgy copy. Message pops up when PC booted up. PC was bought from Ebay a year ago with no disks so no big surprise it is illegal copy. Will it just keep running unsupported or just expire one day. Microsoft says we can purchase new product key online for £95. Hubby does not want to pay it just yet until he finds out what else we made need to purchase (lots of other Microsoft products on here), as it may be cheaper to buy new PC !

toasterman

Its not legal obviously, but you can turn off the message telling you that your software isn't genuine.
Take a look online for how to uninstall the "windows genuine advantage notification". It's a Windows update that causes you to get that message telling you it isn't genuine.

Once removed, if you then set Windows update to download and notify you about updates instead of installing them automatically, you can selectively remove it everytime it tries to install it again.

Obviously, to stay legal, you *should* buy the windows xp product key.
Thats all you should need to purchase from Microsoft though. If MS Office is on there and you're worried that isn't legal, just uninstall it and download https://www.openoffice.org - it's very compatible with everything in MS Office except Access databases, and it's totally free.
I actually prefer it and find the way it does some things is actually easier than Microsoft Office.

rockabilly_spike

elektra wrote: »

Microsoft has just detected that we are using a dodgy copy. Message pops up when PC booted up. PC was bought from Ebay a year ago with no disks so no big surprise it is illegal copy. Will it just keep running unsupported or just expire one day. Microsoft says we can purchase new product key online for £95. Hubby does not want to pay it just yet until he finds out what else we made need to purchase (lots of other Microsoft products on here), as it may be cheaper to buy new PC !

For now it will just keep running with the nag screen to get you to purchase a proper license.
this applies to all microsoft products on your PC.

the version you will be using is XP pro.
You can get a copy of XP home (which is what you really should use if you're just a home user) for around £55-£70 for the oem version.
However you will need to wipe the PC to install XP home over pro as microsoft doesnt let you downgrade one of their products.
or you could pay the £95 for your XP pro license.

or you could report your ebay seller to microsoft for selling a PC with a pirate copy of their O/S on it.
Doesnt solve your problem tho!

Either way microsoft have plans to change their WGA software so that after a certain time limit the PC running a non genuine XP will close down, much like it does if its not activated.

Best thing to do is go get an oem copy of XP home
format the whole PC and start from scratch and yes, you will lose everything on there but if its all pirated software that was on the machine when you bought it, best to get rid of it and start again with a clean PC.
Make a list of the software on there that you use the most and price it up or come on here and ask whats a cheaper or free alternative.

scoobydo_2

I am useless with the pc how do i format it my brother built it and partitioned it into 2 drives .and is xp easy to install ??

toasterman

rockabilly_spike wrote: »

Either way microsoft have plans to change their WGA software so that after a certain time limit the PC running a non genuine XP will close down, much like it does if its not activated.

Where did you hear that? Surely that'd be classed as some form of malware if they did that? Its an invasion of privacy surely too...as you can't guarantee absolutely 100% that their software really is detecting an illegal copy...and it certainly isn't always the end user's fault...as in this particular case.
The people who have dodgy illegal software will find a way round it, and they'll wind up upsetting some innocent end users.

All the more reasons to disable all windows updates.. I now let other people find the bugs before me.
Twice in the last month Windows updates has wound up stopping part of my pc working.

One that was meant to stop crashing (which I wasn't getting) actually stopped iTunes from burning cds.
And another update of some description knocked my Realtek sound card out. I wouldn't mind but the update that screwed it up was a critical update that comes down on its own. The patch to fix it once they realised they'd broken it, wasn't added to the critical list for another week or so. Ok for me as I'd found the patch by then, but annoying for people who don't know how to fix it.