second hand Pc and Windows OS licence...?

[PO15KA]

hi guys,

just a quick question, i purchased a 2nd hand Acer desktop PC, it has WinXP already installed on it but i wanted to do a clean install to start from scratch. the PC did not come with any sort of recovery or WinXP CD's but does have the genuine WinXP serial number sticker on the case.

what are my rights and chances of reinstalling WinXP as a clean install, using another WinXP CD but typing in the serial key from the sticker?

will i get in some kind of trouble? will the installation be succesful or does the serial key only work with the CD that was originally installed with?

have a good day,
Marcin

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 120 days. information contained in it may no longer be current . Please think of the children before resurrecting this ancient thread!

[chrissn89]

It will work fine just as long as your using the correct cd, eg your license sticker is for win xp Home, then the cd win xp needs to be the home version and same for the professional.

Your next thing is you'll need you download drivers if windows doesn't do it for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hazrd]

hey mate
nah no problems with using a different CD. as long as its the same version of windows as per the licence (professional, home, etc)

when u buy a windows, u are essentially paying more for the licence than the cd


edit: damn u chris


edit2: also, if you know the model of the acer pc, you might be able to get the recovery software from the acer website?

[PO15KA]

thank you gentlemen! i will download all necessary drivers now and proceed with the reformatting and clean install. worse case scenario i have a spare genuine copy of win Vista somewhere so i will install that thanks again.

[delemonte]

It is a little bit more complicated than that when it comes to differentiating between TechNet, Academic, Corporate, and OEM versions of XP media, but chances are that it won't be a problem in this case... If it's an Acer, it will most likely be an OEM licence in which case you will just need to have an OEM CD to install it from which is probably what you've got. If not, there are plenty of legitimate ways to obtain this

Let us know if you have any troubles

[AfterBurner]

It is a little bit more complicated than that when it comes to differentiating between TechNet, Academic, Corporate, and OEM versions of XP media, but chances are that it won't be a problem in this case... If it's an Acer, it will most likely be an OEM licence in which case you will just need to have an OEM CD to install it from which is probably what you've got. If not, there are plenty of legitimate ways to obtain this

Let us know if you have any troubles

What he said... U can get key injesctors etc, but then becomes a little tricky, depends if it's a "Licence#" or actual "Product Key", generally speaking they are product keys... Does the label say 'ACER product key or similar'? if so try & download the ACER recovery CD (includes funky ACER drivers that were omitted from the standard XP CD's) ...

When u purchase a copy of windows, that copy remains the property of the PC, not the owner/purchaser. contrary to general belief... That's why the sticker goes on the machine, & when sold, or reinstalled for whatever reason, u can re-use it...