clavus

I hold in my hand, my... um... wait. I hold in my OTHER hand the Windows XP Pro upgrade CD circa 2002. It is from my long-dead laptop.

I have no product key for this. Am I screwed? I think I am. I think I need to BUY the upgrade.

I also hold MS office XP Pro WITH the key. Now that the old machine is dead, can I install it on a new machine, or will M$ deny it (since it was registered a while back on the old machine)?

Before I plunk down $400 for a new laptop XP home edition, I want to know if I'm going to have to pay out the pooper for software I already own.

Thanks

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JStrider

you should be fine installing the office.

with the windows xp upgrade cd without a key... your probably hosed... if it was installed on a working machine you might be able to recover the key... but since it sounds like that machine is dead there probably isn't anything you can do.

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Hain

That blows.

I owned a copy of Office at one point and when I installed it on a new computer, no red flashy lights appeared telling me I had to pay for a new one. If it does, as happened to my friend, he called Office support and explained that he was installing it on his new computer and magically the problem went away.

Can't say much else on the XP key though... There are methods to get a key from the disc that go without saying- not that I would recommend them anymore.


Edit: On a further note, if you are feeling bold, Ubuntu is a really simple install of linux. Combine that with OpenOffice and Thunderbird (with the Lightning plugin), and it replaced all my Office needs.

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Martian

Alternately, you could try calling Microsoft. They may be able to provide you with a key if you can read a serial number off the packaging or some such. I know people who've contacted Microsoft in the past to get working keys for legitimate software, so that might work. I've never done it myself so I don't know what the specifics are.

That said, I support Hain's recommendation of Ubuntu. If you don't plan on doing any gaming it's an excellent operating system that will probably suit all of your needs as well as or better than Windows. Imagine having any piece of software you may need available on a server for download on a whim with no cost involved whatsoever. That's Ubuntu.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

clavus

Thanks all.

What I am trying to get is a machine that will run Excel and VPN so my wife can work at home. Her Vista machine has Excel, but her company's VPN is not Vista compatible. I guess this is a problem for most Vista victims.

I can get a cheap machine w/ XP home installed, but I'm pretty sure I need XP Pro to run the VPN.

Sooooo.... close.

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Hain

I don't think so... I had XP Home on my desktop and I could access my school's VPN...

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dogzilla

Same here. I have XP Home on my machine and have no problems accessing the VPN to get access to my company's network.

ratbastid

I've called Microsoft and gotten codes (and renewal of codes) for both XP and Office. They're pretty generous about it, actually. They asked me how many copies of my XP installation I had running and I said zero, which was the truth, and they brought that code back to life for whatever it is, five or something more installs.

clavus

Well, hell. Thanks. Shows you what I know about VPN.

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trib767

I run Ubuntu and I use it as my main OS. However, I accept that it is not Windows and never will be. I also accept that OpenOffice is not Microsoft Office. "Average Joe" user will not understand or accept these differences. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% pro Linux and Open Source but I do not think it is there on the desktop just yet. It's getting there, but it isn't there yet.

"Average Joe" won't understand having to search around for applications that are like but not quite the same as what they know and love. Gimp is great, but it is not Photoshop, for example. Ubuntu is not as "install and go" as us techy types might like to think. If something goes wrong with an install I can google for answers or pull up a command prompt as easily as brushing my hair but Average Joe won't be comfortable with this.

Finally, when you consider the Wife Acceptance Factor, you'll stick with Windows

Martian

If the assertion is Ubuntu != Windows, you'll get no argument from me. I should think this is patently obvious. However, I do think that Ubuntu can perform all of the necessary functions for an average user. I think that so long as said average user has some support than he or she will be fine with Ubuntu. I'm not about to recommend Slackware for the average Joe, but it's entirely possible to use Ubuntu without ever having to compile a thing. It's possible that a user might run Ubuntu for day to day activities without ever seeing a command prompt.

If things go wrong, some level of support is necessary. Fortunately anyone on these forums has support. Even for the rest of the world, searching the Ubuntu forums and following the instructions found isn't exactly difficult.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame