Need to reformat my girlfriend's XP laptop from HP. Help Please.?

Question

Hello everyone, I need to reformat my girlfriend's laptop. She had XP Home installed on an HP circa 2004, but there is no backup partition, and she can't find her install disc. I have OEM copies of XP Home for Dell, Gateway, and a few others - but not HP. I want to install a LEGAL copy of XP for her. Any ideas? Can I use a Dell OEM disk and use a key changer to change to the OEM serial on her laptop COA? Would that work, or would it still not activate right? If it pops up the prompt to call MSFT, I don’t care, as long as they will activate it. Any help getting around this problem would be appreciated. If you happen to have an FTP link for a HP, or general, OEM XP ISO I could use with her COA that would be awesome. Once again, I am looking for a LEGAL solution to this. I could easily install a BS version of XP Pro myself, but that is not an option for her line of work. I will definitely log the best answer.

anebgx · Accepted Answer

Just use those cds and when it prompts you for the cd key use the label on the hp computer and it shouldnt give you any problems. I've done it before.

Matt Buxton · Answer

Activation of OEM copies of XP is a bit of a minefield unfortunately. Sometimes they will activate, other times not at all. Are you really sure you cannot find your original restore disks? If not, it might be worth contacting HP themselves and seeing if you can purchase another one.

Failing that I'd try the Dell disk, I've had Dell disks work correctly in HP machines before. You might have to ring Microsoft and explain that you are reactivating the installation after a serious OS failure but they should help you no problem.

Need to reformat my girlfriend's XP laptop from HP. Help Please.?

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