Hard drive crashed, no recovery disks but I have the XP COA sticker on the computer, what can I do?

Question

It was a used computer purchase and I didn't back up the hard drive in time. The computer has the XP COA sticker, how do I use that with a new hard drive, should I purchase one?

Answer 1

as long as you have the license code you just need to borrow a disc, it does have to be the same version. you can try and contact microsoft to get a copy but they don't tend to be real helpful.

Answer 2

If you contact the manufacturer they often have a recovery disk set available which is normally very cheap. If not you will need to buy a new OS disk.

Answer 3

When you say 'crshed'...you need to be more specific. I mean when you start it up, does it blue screen. Does it show a message on the screen when you try to boot it?

Try (very, very very quickly) pressing F8 when you switch it on. UIse 'last known good configuration'. Try 'safe mode'.

Can you 'borrow' an xp or Windows server 2003 cd? If so, you could do a 'repair'. You might need to run the CHKDSK command at the recovery console.

with the XP sticker/code, you might need to contact the system vendor. Give them the computer's serial number. Then they can possibly send you out a recovery cd/dvd. There might be a cost. Q: Is your computer still in warranty??

UKJazzCat!!