My father has an 8yr old desktop running windows xp home. It did not come with any windows disc, only a seperate partition for restoring to factory defaults. I performed the reset to factory defaults because of certain problems, however it still doesn't run like it used to and I'd rather just reformat.
I have a copy of a windows xp home / sp2 disc and the original key that came with the computer, however someone had told me that the original oem key probably won't work with the disc and I'd have to buy a new copy of windows. Is this true?
That's right, the OEM key would only work with a copy of Windows from your computer's manufacturer.
I have always used regular OEM copies of an operating system to install Windows. You don't really need a copy from the manufacturer. Just make sure it is a OEM Home or Pro disk and enter in the key on the computer. Just don't use a copy from another manufacturer, that won't work.
[QUOTE=SilentOpp;19988885]I have always used regular OEM copies of an operating system to install Windows. You don't really need a copy from the manufacturer. Just make sure it is a OEM Home or Pro disk and enter in the key on the computer. Just don't use a copy from another manufacturer, that won't work.[/QUOTE]
There are two kinds of OEM. The OEM keys you get with prebuilts (branded OEM) don't work with the OEM discs you buy at Newegg or wherever. If he has an unbranded disc and only the computer's original branded key then he's out of luck.
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