Reformatting without XP Disk

[burnin_vernon]

I'm trying to reformat my sisters pc. She has a legit copy of XP preloaded with the serial no. sticker but she was not given an installation disk when she bought it.

I don't know what brand it is (think she bought it from London Drugs) but was wondering how to reformat this without the disk. I've done some googling but cannot seem to find a straightforward answer.

I have a generic copy of xp (from a torrent site or something) and tried using her serial with it, but an error message told us we had the wrong serial number.

[photon]

You'd probably need an OEM copy of XP, then it should accept the serial # she has.

Oh and moved to the correct forum.

[ken0042]

My experience; the copy of Windows will only work with certain keys. So if for example you have a Dell PC with a Dell Windows key, you would need to use a Dell XP CD.

Another option- IIRC you can contact Microsoft and pay a small fee to get a replacement copy of Windows.

[maverickstruth]

Very often, systems will have the XP "restore" (ie. formatting, reinstall, etc.) on a hidden partition of the drive rather than shipping with a separate installation disk. Check the manufacturer's website support section to see if they have the details on how to access it, or do a search to check if this machine is a partition-based one.

[Bobblehead]

I freaking HATE the restore partition. Notebook computers don't even come with an OEM disk anymore. So when I switched to a larger, faster HD in my Thinkpad, I had to call IBM and get them to send me the disks.

And even then, the disks only create a restore partition! I was hoping for a fresh re-install without the trial-ware, but no such luck.