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So, a friend is clearing out his flat to go to London and gave me a few things, including a base unit for a PC.
Surprisingly it has a better processor/graphics card than mine and the motherboard can take more memory! Only...it doesn't have a hard drive.
Now this is one of those PCs that doesn't have any driver discs, they're all stored on the hard drive (that it doesn't have), I can buy a backup of Windows and the drivers for it for £35 from pctechguys but does anyone know if this would require the Windows serial code?
It's obviously had XP on it with a fully legal code, but my friend doesn't know where the manuals are, which may have the code on.
Basically: Any ideas how I can (legally) sort this out? I'll be buying a hard drive tonight at PC World. I could always ask them if they have a disc lying around, but I suspect they'll try and charge me £75 for doing it, or some such price.
Surprisingly it has a better processor/graphics card than mine and the motherboard can take more memory! Only...it doesn't have a hard drive.
Now this is one of those PCs that doesn't have any driver discs, they're all stored on the hard drive (that it doesn't have), I can buy a backup of Windows and the drivers for it for £35 from pctechguys but does anyone know if this would require the Windows serial code?
It's obviously had XP on it with a fully legal code, but my friend doesn't know where the manuals are, which may have the code on.
Basically: Any ideas how I can (legally) sort this out? I'll be buying a hard drive tonight at PC World. I could always ask them if they have a disc lying around, but I suspect they'll try and charge me £75 for doing it, or some such price.
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What make is the machine?
If you've got as far as contacting the TechGuys then I assume it's one purchased from the DSG Group (PC World, Currys or Dixons when they sold PCs). If this is so and it's Packard Bell, Advent or similar then the easiest thing to do is to purchase the Recovery disks from TechGuys. You may also need to perform another procedure called retatooing if you do this but they should inform you of that. Make it clear that you will be performing a restore onto a new drive. If you do it this way then you should not have to worry about Windows activation. Your machine will be legal as long as it still has the OEM Windows license key sticker for the OS stuck somewhere on the case.
If you've got as far as contacting the TechGuys then I assume it's one purchased from the DSG Group (PC World, Currys or Dixons when they sold PCs). If this is so and it's Packard Bell, Advent or similar then the easiest thing to do is to purchase the Recovery disks from TechGuys. You may also need to perform another procedure called retatooing if you do this but they should inform you of that. Make it clear that you will be performing a restore onto a new drive. If you do it this way then you should not have to worry about Windows activation. Your machine will be legal as long as it still has the OEM Windows license key sticker for the OS stuck somewhere on the case.
Buy a hard drive on eBay, you might get a few banking details too, then you can charge the rest to whoever you choose. :-)
If it's causing you a problem, just give the PC to me :-)
You're probably best off asking someone with a bit more knowledge. I've managed to rebuild my pc and the only issue i have with this at the moment is WGA, means i cant download anything from Microsoft unless i hack it, i cant be bothered. I would imagine that shouldnt be a problem though if you're going to but a legitimate version of windows.
hm. I can get the current code for Vista on my other PC, that's fine, but I thought they cracked down on using one code for more than one PC?
Well i can tell you how to get the activation code, no idea whether it's legal or not but it's not been shut down yet. Belarc have a lovely system scanner which will give you the activation code and a load of other useful details. All you need to do is put your current harddrive in your new pc, run the scanner and it'll give you the code. Then switch to your new harddrive and set Windows up as normal.
Yes, the activation code for Windows.
ie: It legally had a copy of windows on it, with a backup on the drive, but the hard drive corrupted and the activation code, which I've usually found on a seperate piece of paper or stuck to the PC case is lost.
I know how to get the drivers, not a problem, and I could (if I wanted) install Windows illegally or even buy Vista, but I wondered if there was another, cheaper but legal, way to get windows back on the PC.
ie: It legally had a copy of windows on it, with a backup on the drive, but the hard drive corrupted and the activation code, which I've usually found on a seperate piece of paper or stuck to the PC case is lost.
I know how to get the drivers, not a problem, and I could (if I wanted) install Windows illegally or even buy Vista, but I wondered if there was another, cheaper but legal, way to get windows back on the PC.
Could you not just download the drivers free from the motherboard manufacturers?
As for the serial code, i'm assuming you dont mean the product activation code, because there are programmes that you can work that out with. Anyway i would expect that if you'd paid for it, it wouldnt be an issue but i'm probably missing something.
As for the serial code, i'm assuming you dont mean the product activation code, because there are programmes that you can work that out with. Anyway i would expect that if you'd paid for it, it wouldnt be an issue but i'm probably missing something.
So, a friend is clearing out his flat to go to London and gave me a few things, including a base unit for a PC.
Surprisingly it has a better processor/graphics card than mine and the motherboard can take more memory! Only...it doesn't have a hard drive.
Now this is one of those PCs that doesn't have any driver discs, they're all stored on the hard drive (that it doesn't have), I can buy a backup of Windows and the drivers for it for £35 from pctechguys but does anyone know if this would require the Windows serial code?
It's obviously had XP on it with a fully legal code, but my friend doesn't know where the manuals are, which may have the code on.
Basically: Any ideas how I can (legally) sort this out? I'll be buying a hard drive tonight at PC World. I could always ask them if they have a disc lying around, but I suspect they'll try and charge me £75 for doing it, or some such price.
Surprisingly it has a better processor/graphics card than mine and the motherboard can take more memory! Only...it doesn't have a hard drive.
Now this is one of those PCs that doesn't have any driver discs, they're all stored on the hard drive (that it doesn't have), I can buy a backup of Windows and the drivers for it for £35 from pctechguys but does anyone know if this would require the Windows serial code?
It's obviously had XP on it with a fully legal code, but my friend doesn't know where the manuals are, which may have the code on.
Basically: Any ideas how I can (legally) sort this out? I'll be buying a hard drive tonight at PC World. I could always ask them if they have a disc lying around, but I suspect they'll try and charge me £75 for doing it, or some such price.
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