need 'puter for momma

V12.0 works

need Xpee or

Some packages only car that the BIOS has the right name, like Dell. I have used Dell recovery disks to install XP when they had a bad hard drive, or the previous owner deleted everything. I simply ran the recovery, and typed in the registration code from the sticker on the case.

Others work only for one model of computer like Emachines which is a HD image on a DVD.

Both will flash up a message, This is not a XXXXX motherboard if you try them on something else.

A bad motherboard requires a new activation code every time I've done it.

Uh -- I can't remember now! The last time I built a computer I went 100% from scratch, and bought XP to go with it.

The change from windows 2 through to Windows 98 was very subtle. It was all basically the same OS with refinements.

Moving to XP was a major change as it left the old DOS base and went to the NT Kernal. Microsoft was kind enough to supply the "classic" interface, which mimicked 98 quite well - so no large paradygm shift was involved.

Vista changed all that. And 7 has departed from Vista in some major ways. The change from XP to Vista or 7 is a greater change, operationwise, than from Windows

I say get an XP machine that is 7 ready and you have all the bases covered.

though V12.0 works

need Xpee or

Depends on what kind of "oem" package you have.

There is the Microsoft supplied "OEM INSTALL" package that is the same as the retail package except for the licence. It will install on anything and does not check BIOS or anything. It does not include any OEM supplied utilities or other crap, or any special drivers.

Then there is the "OEM Pre-install with Recovery Disk" It will only work on a machine of the original manufacture. Put in a new motherboard from a different supplier and you are screwed.

Another big difference. With the OEM INSTALL package you can do a repair install, as long as you don't have higher service packs installed, without losing any data.(or settings). You can also do a fresh install on a different directory and save your data, or delete the windows directory and do a fresh re-install without formatting the drive and losing data,

You DO need to enter the windows key and go through the windoows authentication process

With the OEM Preinstall Recovery disk you cannot do any of the above. The re-install formats the drive and puts everything back to the way it was shipped. Generally you don't need to enter the key and authenticate windows - on some you do need to enter the key.

Buy if you don't have a set of XP. Then buy the windoze 7 machine and format the C drive. Install XP.

The 150 might be used up on XP - but try Tiger Express.... for xp and machine.

Mart> My momma called and wants a new computer. She's an octogenarian and don't

Make sure you have all the drivers you need, first.

(...)

That isn't my understanding. You should get an OEM disk with every custom PC you buy. You could install on many different desktops and notebooks as long as only one bootable disk exists at a time.

Sure, if you broaden your definition to include a complete disk wipe.

The way I misunderstand it is that an OEM disk is not tied to any specific motherboard. Further, it usually arrives without the fancy packaging and hardcopy manuals the traditional 'full' version has.

--Winston

I've been foolin' around with old comps , and found that you can usually find the drivers you need on the mfr's website . Exception I've found is the older emachines . Had problems loading the drivers once I found 'em , but then this was a W98 box . I wanted an old box for some old games I useta play , but decided the return wasn't worth the effort . You can download a copy of XP from one of the torrent sites , and use a key from just about any dead box to activate it . Which is why I grab any comps I see on the curb . Nobody thinks to keep that sticker , and that's the license . Why pay for it if you can get it for free ? I've also collected some pretty nice video/network/audio cards from those dead boxes . Hard drives are usually worn out though ...

Snag the computer repairman ...

Some of the Emachines ME drivers work ok with 98.

I have repaired computers from the early '80s, starting with Motorola Exorcisor bus 6800 based systems used for graphics in Cable TV. I repaired Commodore Vic 20, C64, some models of the PET line and the various drives to the component level. The newer Emachines restore disk is a drive image for that model like the W3118. I have a few, but most of the time I have to track down the motherboard OEM or chipset OEM to find some drivers.

Dell is easier. It is similar to the OEM XP disk, with the drivers that were current when it was made, so it covers a lot of models.

My mother is in the same position, and I was in the same position. In my case, I had a compact XP Pro desktop with 512 ram and an 80 gig hard drive, Upgrading to 2 gigs ram and installing a 400mb slave drive solved all my problems. My mother has a six year old super compact desktop with 512 ram and a built in graphic card. I told her to install a stand alone graphic card and beef up the ram. Of course she can't do this herself, but a local techie is on the job. I think that in cases like this, there is no reason to replace the whole computer.

You need to read your OEM licence. It goes with the machine it was sold with. A case could be made that you replaced the (defective) motherboard, then the hard drive, and then put it in a new case with new video card etc, and ended up with a new machine - but the "COA" sticker is , by the terms of the licence, to be applied to the case - and they can be a real bear to remove from the old case to transfer to the new one.

It is not "tied" except by the conditions of the licence.

Yes, but very often NOT the actual model the disk was supplied with. You still need to figure out which component the "unrecognized" item is - who made it, and what driver it requires. Without calling Dell Tech Support and giving them the tag numbers from your machine, it can be very frustrating - hense my refering to them often as "the DELL from HELL"

Once you have installed XP, WPA records some specifics of the hardware to block you from putting clones of that hard disk in multiple computers. I don't remember the details because I don't abuse the OS but it assigns a voting weight to about 5 devices and if the vote total drops below some level it wants to call home to be reauthorized. IIRC it gives you a month of probation and then refuses to start.

The SP3 update doesn't require net access for WPA.

jsw

Actually , with the service number off the case , I found it relatively easy to figger out which drivers I needed .

You can use the tag number to find most drivers for the OEM components on the Dell website. Like the computer I'm using, right now. It was part of a business network that held everything on a small office server. It was faster to wipe the hard drive and reinstall XP than clean out all the separate passwords and links to the server.

The Dell restore disk was shipped to me by an IT guy from a university n California a few years ago when they cleaned out a storeroom. i downloaded all the drivers I needed to a USB stick on another computer, installed XP, and installed the missing drivers.

Just saw this....