The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Windows XP format questions

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by rc251, Jun 25, 2008.

  1. rc251

    rc251 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have about 3 Dell computers that I want to format. Two have Windows XP Home and one has XP MCE. As of now, I can't find the Home CD but I have the MCE CD. Could I use the MCE CD on all the computers?

    As far as I remember, Dell stores the CD Key of the Windows installation in the BIOS or something like that (which is why you aren't asked to type it in). However, would the two Home computers be compatible with the MCE CD?
     
    rc251, Jun 25, 2008
    #1
  2. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    5,868
    Messages:
    5,889
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    206
    No, unlike Vista, the XP cds are version specific.
     
    atbnet, Jun 25, 2008
    #2
  3. rc251

    rc251 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hm, would I be able to use an XP Retail upgrade or full disc and use the Dell CD key? Or do I specifically need a Dell OEM disc to do it (could I request one from Dell?).
     
    rc251, Jun 25, 2008
    #3
  4. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    5,868
    Messages:
    5,889
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    206
    You don't need the OEM disc to do it, any XP Pro media would be fine.
     
    atbnet, Jun 25, 2008
    #4
  5. Matt is Pro

    Matt is Pro I'm a PC, so?

    Reputations:
    347
    Messages:
    2,169
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Actually, rc, as long as the computers are DELL and the XP MCE media is DELL, it should work just fine.

    As you said, the DELL OEM media is unlocked via a DELL BIOS.
     
    Matt is Pro, Jun 26, 2008
    #5