Formating a PC with XP

[marcus]

When you say his pc is knackered, what do you mean exactly? Chances are you might be able to fix whats up with it rather than getting him to buy a copy of XP.

[sofasurfer]

When you say his pc is knackered, what do you mean exactly? Chances are you might be able to fix whats up with it rather than getting him to buy a copy of XP.

It is beyond the point of me trying to repair it.Its a professional job.It is infected with a very bad virus that has shagged the PC.

I have the XP product key so activation is ok.Is it possible to borrow someones copy of XP and format the drive?I hope so as I dont think they will be happy in spending out on a copy of XP.

[kernow]

just download one from anywhere if thats the case

and prepare for it to happen again in less than 6 months

get service pack 2 on CD before starting, dont connect online then download it, you'll get infected.

[gIzzE]

Very silly - please read the forum rules about linking to "warez"

[randombs]

my friend has a packard bell pc that also uses a hidden partition to restore the machine. you have to choose a different option to actually wipe the C drive or else it will simply install the files over your current ones. I've never heard of a software restore setup that only overwrites and does not wipe first. almost all i've tried only work by wiping and writing an image file to the hard drive. some just come with a regular windows cd that you install with, then provide a separate cd with the drivers/software.

check what options are available to you during the restore process. don't forget that, if you use a regular xp cd, certain drivers will need to be installed. if your system restore relies on hard disk images, you won't be able to get the drivers for your system and will have to download them from dell's site. the dell laptops we have at work have the actual recovery cd that contains the hard drive image, then extra cd's that contain the drivers/software

[mid]

I have the XP product key so activation is ok.Is it possible to borrow someones copy of XP and format the drive?I hope so as I dont think they will be happy in spending out on a copy of XP.

Yep, as long as you've got the unique activation key you're fine; the actual disc itself is the same between copies. Obviously, you'll need to ensure you get the same release as he had before, i.e. Home or Pro.