Foxtrot360 0 Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 (edited) I have a valid, legal working Product key sticker inside my PC, however, due to video driver & other random problems, i was forced to format my PC. Anyway, i have a question, if i buy a XP Professional CD, will it work with my existing product key, which is an XP Professional key? It says OEM on the product key, and im a bit spotty on Micro$hafts crappy protection. I'd appreciate answers please, as i dont want to blow my money on a CD then have it screw me over. The reason im asking is i may buy JUST an XP CD, and not the whole new license and everything, because i already have a 100$ key, id hate to buy a new XP because i dont have a CD, but have a license/product key that is payed for. Edited July 15, 2006 by Foxtrot23 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteKnight77 1 Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 This is a tough question really, but if you do buy a XP Pro disk, it will come with it's own key. You would use that one. Now if you have a brand name PC and have the restore disk that should have shipped with it, you can reuse the restore disk and the key that is inside of your PC, but that version of XP is tied to that computer no matter what. You can't use it in any other PC whatsoever unlike you could if you actually purchased a copy of it (even an OEM version) from somewhere like Newegg.com. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Foxtrot360 0 Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 (edited) Edited my original post before you responded. I really dont want to pay 200$ for XP which is definitly not worth it, as i use it for gaming mainly. Already know about the XP & OEM tieups, mine isnt brand name, it was built up. There exists no recovery partition, just a empty HDD. As i said, dont want to pay 200 bucks for something that i already have the license and such for if i can get the CD (legal) alone for 30 - 40$ Edited July 15, 2006 by Foxtrot23 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteKnight77 1 Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 See the person who built your system. He should have included the disk with your PC. Since you have a custom built system, the CD key isn't tied to the motherboard as one would be from a brand name company like Dell. Any CD and legal key would work together. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pz3 338 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 your lucky if u scored that windows copy for 55$.... my old copy of XP has been activated over the inter 20 times... so now i have to call in the number to activate.... typical... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Foxtrot360 0 Posted July 16, 2006 Author Share Posted July 16, 2006 Sure did. Theres actually times when eBay is useful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NurFACE 0 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Sure did. Theres actually times when eBay is useful. Glad you got sorted out. Normally you can buy xp with key for $135 which is best way because Microsoft will continue support/activation but not with OEM copies MS usually will point you back to OEM vindor that is MS policy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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