Trying to reinstall XP... Am I screwed now? :(

Syribo

Syribo

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 9, 2008
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Well... I think I screwed myself. I am trying to reformat and reinstall XP Home Edition on my old Dell Dimension from 2003. Never have problems with this computer, and never had problems reinstalling before... But...

I deleted my partition with the OS and stuff on it, had my XP installation CD in there, and was getting ready for the long XP setup... However... My XP CD is REALLY REALLY scratched, I don't know how that happened actually, oops. I couldn't get more than a minute into the setup before it told me the files were corrupted etc etc.

Well... damn :( Now I don't know what to do. This is very frustrating because I still have my serial key... I just need a freaking working disc, and NO ONE I know has one! I also can't just go out to the store and buy a new one (Number one because I'm disabled and have no car.. Number two, I really don't want to waste money on another XP when I have my working serial still :( )...

Is there... anything I can do? I wish I knew someone who had an installation disc that could make it into an .iso or whatever so I could burn it to a disc. That's not even... illegal, yes? Since I have my own serial key and stuff? I don't know what to do! And I really want this old thing to work :( (The noise of my 'good' computer is just so aggravating sometimes, I like to have the quiet Dell to work on instead).

Any ideas? Thank you in advance!
 
This may help.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326246

How to replace Microsoft software or hardware, order service packs and product upgrades, and replace product manuals


Basically, contact Dell and see what options they offer. If that does not work, contact Microsoft and see what options they offer.

If that does not work, report and we can explore other avenues.
 
I contacted Dell.. and they want me to purchase a replacement CD :( ..Well I have had this computer since 2003..

Such a pain :( I wish I had made a backup copy of my XP CD or something.
 
I have heard of people getting replacement media from Microsoft for free, if they provide the scratched or damaged media in return. I'd definitely try calling Dell though. They should be able to help out, especially since you aren't after a license. Remember to make an image or archival copy of the disc, once you get it though.
 
Problem with calling Dell is as soon as XP stopped shipping on systems with media Dell would have stopped producing additional copies, I think Microsoft has specific OEM rules regarding this. So once stock on previous XP CDs is gone Dell wont have anything to replace it with.

As for making a copy of someone else's media, as long as it was the same edition Dell OEM media, I do not believe it would be illegal to copy it, again you are using your legit product key
 
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DeaconFrost said:
I have heard of people getting replacement media from Microsoft for free, if they provide the scratched or damaged media in return. I'd definitely try calling Dell though. They should be able to help out, especially since you aren't after a license. Remember to make an image or archival copy of the disc, once you get it though.
Click to expand...

They're asking $20 for a replacement (Dell, that is). Heh. I'm surprised they actually wouldn't just send me a replacement disc for free or at least pay shipping or something..

I guess I should try to contact Microsoft and see what they say :( Heh, I'm so mad because I really really need the Dell working. It probably sounds so dumb, but at night I can't really use my good computer because it's just too loud and it bothers me.. and all the pets in my room ;) And I don't want to have to wait forever for a replacement CD or something, ahhhh. I don't know what to do heh.
 
InsanePerson said:
Problem with calling Dell is as soon as XP stopped shipping on systems with media Dell would have stopped producing additional copies, I think Microsoft has specific OEM rules regarding this. So once stock on previous XP CDs is gone Dell wont have anything to replace it with.

As for making a copy of someone else's media, as long as it was the same edition Dell OEM media, I do not believe it would be illegal to copy it, again you are using your legit product key
Click to expand...

I am on a mission to find someone or a friend of someone or a friend of someones friend who owns a copy of XP.. Although, you just reminded me that they must have the Dell one.. So they have to have that specific CD for their own Dell? God, I don't think I know anyone else with a Dell actually.. Ugh.
 
You don't necessarily need the XP disc that is provided by dell. You can just do a fresh reformat with the XP Home or Pro (whatever you have a license for) and download the drivers for your model off Dell's Website. Dell is really good about keep their drivers organized. I'm pretty sure the Dell you have either uses a Broadcom 440x or Intel Pro VE 10/100 (1000 on higher end systems) Ethernet Controller. All you need is that driver for the ethernet and from there you can get on the internet with your fresh format and download Video/Audio/Modem/etc drivers from there.

I'm Assuming you're talking about the Dell that is listed in your Sig, the drivers can be found here, so yeah you can just download them and install them so you don't really need the dell restore cd:
Dell Dimension 4550

Look for a friend or someone (try mom and pops computer stores, they will still have copies of it) with a working copy of XP, and make an .iso of the copy with something like PowerISO, MagicISO, Nero, Roxio, and burn it onto a fresh disc with an image burner.

Or you can look for some torrents out there, some are actually good, they won't include a product key, just the .iso and thats it.
 
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Kaiga said:
You don't necessarily need the XP disc that is provided by dell. You can just do a fresh reformat with the XP Home or Pro (whatever you have a license for) and download the drivers for your model off Dell's Website. Dell is really good about keep their drivers organized. I'm pretty sure the Dell you have either uses a Broadcom 440x or Intel Pro VE 10/100 (1000 on higher end systems) (On rare occasions if it is an XPS systems, Sometimes it will be NvidiaLAN) Ethernet Controller. All you need is that driver for the ethernet and from there you can get on the internet with your fresh format and download Video/Audio/Modem/etc drivers from there.
Look for a friend or someone (try mom and pops computer stores, they will still have copies of it) with a working copy of XP, and make an .iso of the copy with something like PowerISO, MagicISO, Nero, Roxio, and burn it onto a fresh disc with an image burner.

Or you can look for some torrents out there, some are actually good, they won't include a product key, just the .iso and thats it.
Click to expand...

No, he will need the Dell OEM, not for drivers but because his Dell OEM Product ID will not work with another companies OEM media or other retail/msdn media
 
Kaiga said:
Or you can look for some torrents out there, some are actually good, they won't include a product key, just the .iso and thats it.
Click to expand...

I actually tried this.. twice already. I didn't know if I could discuss it or not, not knowing if it was 'legal' even though I have my key. ;)

I keep getting the SAME problem no matter what 'copy' of XP that I try to put on a CD. It gets through like 5 seconds of setting up the setup program, then I get a File \i386\c_437.nls could not be loaded. The error code is 14 message.

Makes me so sad, I have no idea what could be wrong.. I'm doing it right, I'm sure. Ahh well.
 
InsanePerson said:
No, he will need the Dell OEM, not for drivers but because his Dell OEM Product ID will not work with another companies OEM media or other retail/msdn media
Click to expand...

Oh geez, I thought so after looking at the sticker on the case and it clicked in my head that I would probably need the actual Dell disc. :(
 
Syribo said:
They're asking $20 for a replacement (Dell, that is). Heh. I'm surprised they actually wouldn't just send me a replacement disc for free or at least pay shipping or something..

I guess I should try to contact Microsoft and see what they say :( Heh, I'm so mad because I really really need the Dell working. It probably sounds so dumb, but at night I can't really use my good computer because it's just too loud and it bothers me.. and all the pets in my room ;) And I don't want to have to wait forever for a replacement CD or something, ahhhh. I don't know what to do heh.
Click to expand...

$20 for replacement media is hardly a bad deal, if they do have it available you should snatch it up right away, they may not have it in the future.
And as far as replacing it for free, why should they if they were not responsible for the damage? Software media is not covered by the hardware contract on the system.
 
InsanePerson said:
No, he will need the Dell OEM, not for drivers but because his Dell OEM Product ID will not work with another companies OEM media or other retail/msdn media
Click to expand...

I am not talking about using another company's restore disc. I am talking about using an OEM copy of Windows XP. That Product ID is nothing more than a Windows XP license that comes with the system. He can use his Product Key with windows OEM.
If he were to take a Gateway restore disc for instance and try to use it on his PC, it wouldn't work, but if he used an OEM copy, he can use the product key he got with his dell.
 
Kaiga said:
I am not talking about using another company's restore disc. I am talking about using an OEM copy of Windows XP. That Product ID is nothing more than a Windows XP license that comes with the system. He can use his Product Key with windows OEM.
If he were to take a Gateway restore disc for instance and try to use it on his PC, it wouldn't work, but if he used an OEM copy, he can use the product key he got with his dell.
Click to expand...

Nor was I referring to a proprietary restore CD.
It is my experience that , whether it be Dell, HP generic OEM or other, the product keys associated with that are tied to that type. A Dell OEM Product ID will not be seen as valid.
And I've been doing reinstalls for clients for years, often it comes up that media is lost or damaged.
 
InsanePerson said:
$20 for replacement media is hardly a bad deal, if they do have it available you should snatch it up right away, they may not have it in the future.
And as far as replacing it for free, why should they if they were not responsible for the damage? Software media is not covered by the hardware contract on the system.
Click to expand...

Oh I understand, like I said above in a post somewhere that I even understand why they wouldn't send me a free one since I've had the computer for so long and am over the warranty now. $20 isn't bad at all... but I really REALLY don't make a lot of money right now from workers comp, and after medications, doctor stuff and food... I really don't have a lot of money.. at all.

I also don't mind buying it and spending the money if I really feel I have that $20 to spare at this moment, I just also didn't want to wait until the 20th to get it heh ;) I cleaned off my scratched disc a bit and put it back in.. Setup is at 12% now... I really hope it works this time, it didn't get past 0% the first time!

But yes, I know it's my fault ;) I dropped it on the floor behind my desk accidentally, forgot about it for months, and now it's all scratched! I just wanted to try and solve this the easiest and cheapest way possible before going with the money spending and waiting way first ;) I hope this thing works.. and if it does.. I'm making myself a copy or two.
 
InsanePerson said:
Nor was I referring to a proprietary restore CD.
It is my experience that , whether it be Dell, HP generic OEM or other, the product keys associated with that are tied to that type. A Dell OEM Product ID will not be seen as valid.
And I've been doing reinstalls for clients for years, often it comes up that media is lost or damaged.
Click to expand...

The windows product key that is seen on a tower, is just a Windows product key, it has The system manufacturer's name on it because thats who sent the license with the system. No matter what, its still just a windows product key. It can be used with an OEM copy of the Windows OS it corresponds with.

I don't know how you've been doing reinstalls for years for clients if all you've been able to use is the restore CD.
Almost all of our customers who bring their towers/laptops in usually have already lost their restore discs a long time ago. I've been doing Reformats for years using OEM copies, but using the Windows product ID that is on their tower.

In the end, all it is, is a product ID that was distributed to the manufacturer from Microsoft. And what does "media being lost or damaged" have to do with that?
 
Syribo said:
I was thinking about that :) How is Windows 7 on 'less than good' computers? I wasn't sure if it would be a bad idea with a gig of RAM on this thing, like how Vista is. Heh. I've been out of the loop for a while :)
Click to expand...

We have a Demo PC in our shop we use to show Win 7 to customers, (32 bit) and it only has 1GB Ram, and a 2.8HGz P4 running a 7300GS and it runs like a champ. Hardware requirments are lower than vista.
 
Syribo said:
I was thinking about that :) How is Windows 7 on 'less than good' computers? I wasn't sure if it would be a bad idea with a gig of RAM on this thing, like how Vista is. Heh. I've been out of the loop for a while :)
Click to expand...

Dunno. Free to try though. Probably have it up and running quickly, and if no-go, killdisk if your buddy.
 
68% through the XP Setup heh... Although, I just realized something strange. I have been using this XP installation disc from Dell for years now, and it always installed correctly... On the Setup screen it says "Windows XP Professional Setup" at the top. Weird... I thought ONLY XP Pro will work with an XP Pro key, and Home Edition would only work with a Home Edition key?? I know my system came with Home Edition... But this CD is Pro, and it's always worked before.

Is that weird? :eek:
 
Dell seems to have drivers for 4550 only for XP.
No Vista drivers.
So, I suspect you will have difficulty with Windows 7.
 
I was feelin good.. Setup just got to 100% and then when it started to verify my hard drive, BAM. 'Setup was unable to verify drive C:. Your computer may not have enough memory to examine the drives, or your Windows XP CD may contain some corrupted files."

Sad times :(
 
MrF said:
Dell seems to have drivers for 4550 only for XP.
No Vista drivers.
So, I suspect you will have difficulty with Windows 7.
Click to expand...

Most if not all the drivers he would need for that system would be included in the installation. No need to download any new ones.

Syribo said:
I was feelin good.. Setup just got to 100% and then when it started to verify my hard drive, BAM. 'Setup was unable to verify drive C:. Your computer may not have enough memory to examine the drives, or your Windows XP CD may contain some corrupted files."

Sad times :(
Click to expand...

Go ahead and install the Win7 RC.

Then if you do not like it (you have time to try it) you can go back to XP once you are ready to order the replacement disc.
 
if you use a Dell OS CD and are installing onto almost any Dell machine, the install process sees the correct Dell BIOS info and uses the serial key thats embedded on the OS CD, it wont ask you to install the CDkey from the case and will auto-activate itself without checking in with MS.

If you used an OEM OS CD, youd have to enter the cdkey from the sticker on the case, and also activate it over the phone or internet (Ive done tons of these installs and the process is always the same)
 
Syribo said:
I was feelin good.. Setup just got to 100% and then when it started to verify my hard drive, BAM. 'Setup was unable to verify drive C:. Your computer may not have enough memory to examine the drives, or your Windows XP CD may contain some corrupted files."

Sad times :(
Click to expand...
I had a GateWay that used to do the same thing.Everytime i tried to install XP using the gateWay install disk i kept getting different file errors everytime, even contacted GateWay support and they sent me a new disk but i still had the same problems.
Turned out that the hdd had some bad sectors on it, right where it was installing the recovery partition. Don't know if thats your problem or not.
 
Sometimes bad RAM can cause file read errors. So if swapping the harddrive out doesn't solve that, then look to your ram next. Try pulling out all your ram except for one stick.
 
If you have light scratches that is throwing the laser off, try resurfacing the CD:

http://www.amazon.com/GAME-MANUAL-XLR8-Not-Machine-Specific/dp/B00005UMZZ

$12 in the Marketplace.

It basically lightly wet sands the top layer of plastic off the CD and then you have to buff the CD.

The GameDoctor is for "Audio CDs, CD-Roms, DVDs, CD-Rs, PhotoCDs, PlayStation games and other CD-sized optical discs."

It comes with a 34 page booklet and is fun to use.

I've used it on a music CD and many traded PC games.

But since you've had it on the floor for months ( LOL ) it might be best to get a new CD.
 
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Syribo said:
I was thinking about that :) How is Windows 7 on 'less than good' computers? I wasn't sure if it would be a bad idea with a gig of RAM on this thing, like how Vista is. Heh. I've been out of the loop for a while :)
Click to expand...


Win7 32bit actually runs just fine on a socket A, Athlon 2800+, on a NF2 mobo with 1 gig of ddr 400 and an Ati 9800pro. It does take longer to cold boot, (sleep does not get along with that mobo), and to become responsive once you actually reach desktop compared to Xp. But it feels just as snappy as Xp once it is up and running.

In my case I did have to hunt around for some lan drivers that would work though. So if you go that route insure you have all your drivers.
 
I just got a disk from Dell for a 2002 model.$18.03 shipped.
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Your installation problems can also be related to an old optical drive, sometime they'll have trouble reading disks properly.
 
To verify that the disc is the problem you could try using ImgBurn, or something like it, to make a good iso image of the scratched disc. It can do both hardware and software based re-reads so there's a chances that even with a hardware read fail it can force a software re-read and be successful. If you can get through without any failed reads then you can burn a fresh copy and install from that.
 
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