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Overwrote a working XP installation with a phony one. DUH. Now MS wants my ***. RRS feed

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    I guess I'm stupid.  I mean here I am - an Aussie retired in Paris - with a nice working Dell desktop getting a little bit slow lately.   So I reload XP Pro from a disk that was 'guaranteed' by an Ebay vendor with a good record ... and KAPOW .... trainwreck.

    Saddest of all, I put the gun to my own head by ASKING for Windows Validation.  Duh and Duh again.

    So does anyone know how I can go back to my previous version of XP without a recovery disk?

    Sunday, November 4, 2007 2:29 AM

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    Paris Pete,

     

    I am really sorry to hear about the situation which you have experienced. First I would like to ask who on Ebay you purchased Windows XP from? Please provide the link, screen name, email or any information you may still have on the purchase.  Also please take time and review the following website and compare how the software there looks in comparison to what you purchased:  http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ . Please keep in mind that not all deals will be a deal in the long run. This is truly an unfortunately situation when customers aren't provide genuine software. Pete you have a couple options. First I would recommend you to file a piracy report. Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/ and file a report. Next you may contact Dell Technical Support. The number is

    800- 624-9896 and the website is:  http://search.dell.com/index.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&ec=k&ira=False&cat=sup&advsrch=False . Inquire on the cost for the Dell Recovery Software media. Recovery CD’s are specific to your computer manufacturer so please let them know the make and model.  Since the telephone number and web sites are not maintained by Microsoft we cannot make any warranty as to their validity. 

     

    Also depending on when your warantee expired as well as the fact not all verdors provide recovery media. So another route may be for you to visit Dell Community Forums @ http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/. Maybe you can search for replace a lost Dell system restore disk. 

     

    Hopefully this information has been helpful and provided you with information to resolve your problem. 

     

     

    Thank you Pete,

     

    Stephen Holm, MS

     

    Monday, November 5, 2007 9:52 PM
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    Parispete,

     

    PayPal seems to keep records much longer than eBay, so if you routinely pay with PayPal, check your PayPal account too.

     

    Your Dell is licensed to run the Windows OS that is described on the Certificate of Authenticity.  If you need replacement reinstallation media, contact Dell customer service and order it.  Not sure how much it will be in Paris or Oz, but in the USA they only charge $15 to ship you a CD.

     

    When you start your Dell, after the Dell logo displays and right before the XP logo displays, do you see a blue bar at the top of the screen with www.dell.com for two seconds?  If so, when you see this bar, press CTRL + F11 to start Dell PC Restore by Symantec to reimage the computer back to factory condition---no need for a CD.

     

    Monday, January 21, 2008 3:45 PM

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    Paris Pete,

     

    I am really sorry to hear about the situation which you have experienced. First I would like to ask who on Ebay you purchased Windows XP from? Please provide the link, screen name, email or any information you may still have on the purchase.  Also please take time and review the following website and compare how the software there looks in comparison to what you purchased:  http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ . Please keep in mind that not all deals will be a deal in the long run. This is truly an unfortunately situation when customers aren't provide genuine software. Pete you have a couple options. First I would recommend you to file a piracy report. Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/ and file a report. Next you may contact Dell Technical Support. The number is

    800- 624-9896 and the website is:  http://search.dell.com/index.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&ec=k&ira=False&cat=sup&advsrch=False . Inquire on the cost for the Dell Recovery Software media. Recovery CD’s are specific to your computer manufacturer so please let them know the make and model.  Since the telephone number and web sites are not maintained by Microsoft we cannot make any warranty as to their validity. 

     

    Also depending on when your warantee expired as well as the fact not all verdors provide recovery media. So another route may be for you to visit Dell Community Forums @ http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/. Maybe you can search for replace a lost Dell system restore disk. 

     

    Hopefully this information has been helpful and provided you with information to resolve your problem. 

     

     

    Thank you Pete,

     

    Stephen Holm, MS

     

    Monday, November 5, 2007 9:52 PM
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    Thank you for your prompt reply and my apologies for not answering earlier.

    First, I have gone back over my Ebay buying history, but the Ebay archives only supply item details for ninety days and this purchase was probably made a couple of years ago.  At the time I had working XP but no recovery disk, and I mistakenly thought that any XP installation coupled to a valid product key would enable a full reinstall of XP.

    I have (1) the product code from the side of the Dell Optiplex GX260 I am now using.

    as well as (2) the product code of the XP version that seemed to be working fine just before I installed what you tell me is a bootleg copy.

    Should you be able to establish that my former XP was genuine, could you not award me a license to enable me to continue using this computer?   I have an ancient (and, I believe, genuine) 98SE but I would rather not go back to it.

    I have never consciously supported software piracy and the situation in which I now find myself is of my own making - due, as I have said, to the erroneous belief that any XP product key should be compatible with any XP installation.

    This, as I have learned to my great embarrassment, seems not to be the case.

    I have already posted on the Dell Community board to try to drill down to my previous install, but without success.

    Thanks again for your interest in my problem.

    Pete

    Thursday, November 22, 2007 5:46 PM
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    Pete,

     

    You reinstalled Windows and wont be able to return to a previous version. As I mentioned in my last post you do have options. First please file a piracy report. Also did you visit this link:  http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ .  Examine the software you purchasedon Ebay against what the link shows. Next contact Ebay and let them know what has happened. Next can you provide me with all the information about the seller on EBay including the website, email phone number anything whatsoever? Next contact Dell and inquire how to purchase the recovery media for your Optiplex system. Also use the n ewsgroup I provided and put in the statement I provided and this may show you a quicker way to procure a disc.  Hopefully I have been able to help you.

     

    Thankyou,

     

    STephen Holm, MS

    Thursday, November 29, 2007 8:08 PM
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    Dear Stephen,

    We have been discussing a version of Windows XP which I purchased some time ago and in good faith from a vendor whom I believe came to me through Ebay.   Ebay records only last for a limited time, beyond which the details of deals are not supplied and for this reason I am not certain which of my past Ebay purchases (I have done seventy to date) concerned this version of XP.

    Let me say that I support your efforts to root out the trade in bootleg software, which by any stretch of the imagination, is nothing more than theft.   What I regard less sympathetically is that I have a Dell with what I assume to be a legitimate product code on it, and to which you have told me I can not return.  

    Be that as it may, you are naturally interested in contacting the vendor of my illegal version of XP, so what I would like to clarify is whether I may be allowed to continue using my present XP if I can discover and report to you the the details of the vendor who sold it to me.  

    I am a retired Australian currently living in Paris, France, and the old paperwork, if it still exists, will be in Sydney, to which I will be returning in April.   Should I be able to discover the vendor' s details, may I expect favourable treatment from Microsoft?

     

    regards,

    parispete

    Monday, January 21, 2008 10:44 AM
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    Parispete,

     

    PayPal seems to keep records much longer than eBay, so if you routinely pay with PayPal, check your PayPal account too.

     

    Your Dell is licensed to run the Windows OS that is described on the Certificate of Authenticity.  If you need replacement reinstallation media, contact Dell customer service and order it.  Not sure how much it will be in Paris or Oz, but in the USA they only charge $15 to ship you a CD.

     

    When you start your Dell, after the Dell logo displays and right before the XP logo displays, do you see a blue bar at the top of the screen with www.dell.com for two seconds?  If so, when you see this bar, press CTRL + F11 to start Dell PC Restore by Symantec to reimage the computer back to factory condition---no need for a CD.

     

    Monday, January 21, 2008 3:45 PM