Printable View
Recently purchased a used pc with windows xp on it, was working great, then had to do illegal restart on it and now windows will not load in any mode. Unmountable disk error. We bought it with no disk, and have no ideawho admistrator was. So can I re-register the software with microsoft or how will I fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Without the disk and installation key, you are out of luck. Your best bet is to buy an oem copy of Windows XP for about $90. Since you mentioned that you purchased this computer second hand, I would first make sure that it is worth the $90 investment.
Other options, upgrade your computer with a system that includes the operating system. Another would be to try one of the Linux distributions.
Thanks for your reply. I do have the installation key to the software. It was on the sticker on the computer, I just dont know if it was registered or if I could re-register it. If you price the same computer online, it runs about 900.00 or so but I could not find a product number for it and I have looked on it everywhere. Thanks.
It has gotten tougher in recent times. However it is worth a try since you have the installation key. First you need a copy of XP on disk. It should include SP2. Nest make sure the computer setup is set to boot from CD. Start the computer. The installation process should begin.
Sometimes you just can't get the installation to start. I have always suspected that it is due to anti-piracy crap that M$ has included in updates. When this happens the only thing that I have found to work around it is to download the diag utility for your HD and write 0's to the disk. This filles every space on the disk with a zero. Try the installation process again.
Once the installation is completed, you will have to validate the installation. It may go through without a problem. If not you will receive a message that your copy of XP appears to be counterfeit and it will not be activated. At this point you can try to talk to M$ but I don't think it will do any good. They will tell you to go to wherever you purchased the computer for support.
You have a chance. All it will take is time and effort to find out. If it fails, you won't be any worse of than you are now. Good luck.
Give us the specs of that computer. I have a hard time believing that we can't beat that $900 price. In fact you might do a lot better.
:whs: Couldnt say it better myselfQuote:
Originally Posted by efc
As for the problem itself you can try the above suggestions as thats the only real shot calling MS wont help 99.9% of the time.
Used software reminds me of my ex-wife. Both become obsolete after a certain amount of use and time. :eek:
:rolleyes: