Restore System Configuration

Hi, Yes you will need the disc. Have a word with the support dept of the laptop's manufacturer…..they may be prepared to sell you a disc at a reduced price. As long as you have the correct licence and COA (Certificate of Authenticity )you should be OKRegards paws

Hi StarryNight.. It doesn't matter what disc you use as long as it is the same version of Windows XP. That would mean Home or Professional. You will need the "OEM" version of the install disc. It doesn't matter what hard drive you use. That is simply not true. Turn your computer over and look at the certificate of authenticity on the bottom of the computer. It is the Microsoft sticker with the product key and product version listed. That, my friend, is all you need. It doesn't matter what hard drive you have, what disc you use, etc. As long as the disc you use matches that product version on that sticker. Now, because you have a bad disc and because I don't want to see you end up using a bootlegged version of Windows, then what you need to do now is contact the manufacturer of the computer. Tell them you want to order a set of recovery discs. For probably about $20 they will ship you brand new discs to perform a complete system recovery on the new hard drive after you put it in. Hope that helps. EDIT: To give your boyfriend a little bit of credit, what he says is partially true. If that product key on the bottom of the computer had ever been activated with the old hard drive, then you might (but not definitely) have to call Microsoft to re-activate the product and tell them you had to replace the hard drive. There is very little chance this will happen, and even if it does it just means it takes you about 10 minutes longer to activate your Windows because you'll have to call them instead.

By some strange turn of events, my computer decided to work again. I turned it on after a few days out of curiosity, and BAM - it did the check disk I had asked it to do before and it started up and here I am posting. Not by any means saying I'm not going to still use my new hard drive when it comes (probably tomorrow). For all I know, this one could go wonky at any moment or not start up the same way again. Unfortunately, I can't afford even a $20 replacement disc being unemployed at the moment, so I'm praying I get that job soon so I can get a new Windows disc without having to "go bootleg". Haha, at first I said "How ticked would I be if my computer worked again and I ordered a hard drive for nothing?" But you make a good point that having a spare is a good thing, so I'll be less bitter about it if this hard drive continues to work properly. Thank you guys so much for your help! Hard drive should be here tomorrow, and I'll try to use this one until I can afford a replacement Windows XP install disc. Much love to you pro tech guys from an aspiring "beginner techie". EDIT: Restarted it for an Automatic Update, restarted fine. Turned it off earlier today so it wouldn't overheat, turned back on again with no problem. Computers can be so strange, heh!