Windows XP Installation CD Question?

I have a Compaq (now HP) pc and the only CDs that came with my system were the Recovery Console CD and the Set-Up CD (5 discs total).

I'm looking for a Windows XP INSTALLATION CD? Will my pc's Manufacturer send me one if I request it or is there another way to get a hold of one?

I'm trying to do a repair and I was told that I need the XP installation CD since CHKDSK and SCANNOW did not fix my issue.

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

 

your best bet would be to contact Compaq/HP and hope for the best.

if that doesnt work, you may be SOL and youll have to buy XP (provided u really really need it).

 

Grant it I am talking my old ME OS on my Compaq...but when my OS started giving me trouble. I attempted to use the Recovery CD it never worked .

I ended up going out and buying a retail box XP Home (NOT the upgrade) and over wrote ME with XP. When my hard drive died I did a clean install. Not one single problem.

Bottom line my experience with Recovery CD on one of those mass loaded (XP I assume too) machines sucks . You are better off with a retail copy.

Oh yea one more thing the help offered from Compaq was you have a bad Recovery CD we will send another...over and over again three times Wrong, it was just worthless.

 

5 is a lot of disks! it's not impossible that you have the files you need there! Doesn't hurt to look, anyways.

Normally windows files will be located in a folder called "i386"

One word of caution: These restore disks will want to auto play and that can be a pain! you can disable autoplay via software, but, probably if you hold the left shift key down, and keep it held down until you actually start exploring, then the autoplay will be bypassed.

I actually kind of sympathize with your approach and hope it works. sometimes (often) you might need to reinstall the o/s but its a lot of work!


-HandsOff

 

Hello Birdman,

You can call Microsoft & request the replacement disk department. You will be asked for the OEM number, contained on the Windows pamphlet, that came with your Compaq, if you can't answer that question they have other questions you may be able to answer. Note my Sony Vaio came with 5 - 6 page Windows pamphlet. They will (for small fee) send you, the exact Windows your machine originally came with, sans all the junk on your recovery disk. In my case they sent me XP Home SP1, also the replacement disk, has a new key, & allows two free tech support phone calls, also your first call to tech, with the new disk/key # activates/registers your new copy. When I got my new disk from Microsoft, I slipstreamed it, with SP2. The last thing I did was trash my Sony recovery disks.

Good Luck
rico

 

Something close to what's listed in my attached file is also hiding in your D:\ Recovery Partition, isn't it? What I'm thinking seem's possible considering the folk's at Compaq spaced out across five cd's what in base form is sold as one. I figure copying/extracting the required files to produce a bootable cd would involve mostly creative thought, free tool's (xcopy/robocopy, isobuster, cdimage), and a dedicated dose of understanding to pull it all together (where execution's concerned). I'm optimistic it could be done except for the fact the system I retrieved the below list from is unfortunately not mine to experiment with, unless I dare greatly .... BTW, don't expect anything (from me on this) anytime soon, only my thought's on an otherwise "intriguing" proposition.

Hint: Use the cmd shell to navigate that partition - cd /d d:\


GF

 

this helps me as well.
i have a legal version of windows but carrera SSC never gave me a disc so can i ring MS up and get replacement discs if i can prove i have a legal version?
lodore

 

Hi Lodore,

Yes! Ask for the disk replacement dept.. In my case the Sony PC, came with a pamphlet "Welcome to Microsoft XP", "For distribution with a new Sony PC only." The pamphlet has a part number, which I provided to M$, for the replacement disk!

Note - When I formatted & installed using my new disk, I still required (at that time) Sony's drivers. Chipset, Video, Network, Sound, Modem. All have been replaced. I mention this because OEM'd boxes have 'proprietary' drivers, that can be difficult to acquire, from the mfg. I made enough noise & got the attention of Sony's brass that, they now provide, a 10 page instruction 'readme' on how to do a clean install of windows. One frustrating example is, I cannot get from the mfg. a BIOS upgrade, I still need to go, through Sony.

Never again will I purchase an OEM'd box: Sony, Dell etc.

Enough It's now time to eat turkey till i explode!

Take Care
rico

 

Thanks Rico

 

Thanks Rico
enjoy the Turkey
lodore