Im buying a laptop with vista. i dont want vista i want XP. My mother has a XP Pro disk that she uses for her computers at her office. She wont let me take it home. so i used her laptop and put the cd in her computer and and openend it up and copied all the files onto the desktop. i have the cd key. i burnend it to a disk and when i put it in a menu came up and it would not let me click on Install windows XP. and the cd wont boot up when i restart the computer. I need help on how to make it work
If its copy protected, then how come it lets me choose other stuff to do with the cd. it lets me instal .NET framework, set up a network and other stuff it will let me do.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 japadamaray // Jul 13, 2008
You cannot duplicate a Windows installation disk, they have protection to prevent piracy. You have to use an original. Maybe you should switch to Linux. Linux is so much better than both Vista and XP.
Well you didn't really copy the CD byte for byte. You just copied the files. The data for booting from the CD is in the first sector and does not appear as a file because it is not inside the filesystem. Try an ISO file.
btw if you do get it working you still need to purchase an activation key. You need both CD and activation keys. And since MS stopped all XP sales on the 30th, that is impossible.
2 SpoonMan79 // Jul 13, 2008
This is because the disk is copy protected, even when trying to copy the files from CD to hard drive. I recommend you give Vista a try, I was against getting it too when I got my laptop but now I love it much more than XP. Vista got a lot of bad wrap from people who didn't know how to solve there simple problems so said it was crap.
3 D McC // Jul 13, 2008
you need to make the disc bootable and needs to be copied to disc as an iso image, im not sure of the process as i havent actually done it but i have read up on it
4 bilou5404 // Jul 13, 2008
I gotta come back here. Like Tyler, the OP (orginal poster) it gets the hair on the back of my neck rising when I see pure bullshit posts, like this shit:
"You cannot duplicate a Windows installation disk, they have protection to prevent piracy. You have to use an original. Maybe you should switch to Linux. Linux is so much better than both Vista and XP."
Well, asshole, guess what There is no copy protection on Windows discs whatsoever. Any idiot running Nero or CopyCD can make a bit copy of any Windows install disc. Microsoft duid that as a marketing strategy over the years so that anyone could pirate Windows for free. It worked as a strategy, nobody uses anything else in the business world. As for Linux, which you seem to like, well, I like it too, and I dual boot Linux when I need it, but it can't run a lot of stuff I need. for business. At least I know what I am doing, and you appear not to know your ass from your elbow. So please leave Yahoo answers until you grow up.
The oroginal question is still there, my answer follows and is correct.
First a warning. If you install XP Pro this way you will have an unlicensed install. i.e. technically illegal. The fact that you have a laptop with a legal VISTA install will almost certainly mean that Microsoft won't send in the FBI to have you put away for 15 years, but technically it would be illegal.
However there are solutions. I am not a super expert, but I have been doing installs of Windows of all types since 1998. I guess I can try to help.
1. The CD won't boot. No, of course not. A boot CD requires special code in the inf section to tell the BIOS (the tiny little operating system that gets your computer off the ground and starts the real operating system or install code). You have to know how to build a CD like that with say Nero CD writing software. It isn't easy. I would recommend you don't go that way. You are user, not a "techie" You could spend months working out how to do it properly. Waste of time. But you can easily copy any Windows disc with no problem. And install it with no problem. Activation is another question and is not easy at all.
2. You can do what you tried to do by copying the files to a partition (something you have made that adds a drive D: or drive E, or whatever you want) on your hard disc, then "booting" into DOS (an old-fashioned but very uthe hd, then Operating System, much more capable than BIOS), selecting the right start file in DOS (not easy unless you know how DOS works, and most people these days do not know.) If you understand basic DOS then it is easy. You can guess the file you need, try it, and when the install window comes up you know you have succeeded. I havent done that for many years but it will work.
3. Practical solutions.
a. Go illegal. NOT recommended but easy. You have to make a perfect "copy" of the CD. Most cd copy sotware will allow you to do that. The CD will be an exact copy of your mother's cd. It will accept the key that she would use to activate XP. It will work for a while until you try to update to the latest bug-fixed version of XP Pro (sp3 plus any changes since). Then you will find that Microsoft (of course, they are not stupid) already know about the original install of that copy on your mother's machine at work. It will tell you that your copy is illegal and will not update. Hmmm. What to do now?
4. Microsoft are very aware of the problem you have. You might want to run XP for many reasons.
(i) You develop games for XP and Vista. So you need to boot into XP to check if the Vista version works in XP. You might have to do that many times each day.
(ii) You hate Vista because it slows your laptop down. This is true for many users of Laptops who just want to type text and do simple things like watching a movie. Vista is a very advanced system. Even the most poweful laptops will be slower with Vista, of course. So you may just want speed and simplicity.
(iii) Highly recommended. Legal. You are safe and can get your updates.
Go see your supplier, the computer shop that sold you the laptop. Tell them you need XP Pro because you are a "gamer" and have hubdreds of old games. You will probably find that they understand your problem very well, and will give you an XP install CD under a Microsoft agreement. You will have your own CD, your own install key. You will have a legal copy of XP pro. When you get rich and can buy a 68Ghz laptop with 10 terabytes RAM and makes a fantastic cup of coffee, then you will forget this minor problem.
(iv) if your supplier (the computer shop) says "go away, we can't help you". Then , you are on your own.. Not much choice except to go illegal. Before you do that, phone Microsoft support.direct. DO NOT GIVE YOUR NAME, invent one, false name (John or Joan Mylastname or LOCATION (err I just moved in, its next to the Ramada.."Sorry but its a deli on the south of fourth, but I don't have much time, gotta get back to the office or the boss is going to go hyper"
Just keep yourself out of Microsoft's database. They keep a huge list of people who are potential pirates, last number I heard was 54 million people worl-wide.. They love people who phone in with "My name is Jesse Harper, I live at 1677 Marthers, in Seattle, my phone number is 9771 3453. Can you help me? My son gave me a computer, but when I try to update it says I am illegal"
That might cause problems in the future. Microsoft as a company do not want to hurt you, but they hire lawyers who are paid by how many pirates are in jail this week. Stand clear of that.
Go back to your laptop supplier, get XP, legal. So much easier. If that fails, sell your laptop and go buy one with XP.
So, sure you can pirate Windows, any time you want. But isn't it easier to just buy a copy? Sheesh!
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