windows xp home. retail or oem ?

john-boy · Dec 10, 2010

I have three home desktop pc's
one runs windows xp sp3
one runs windows98 with sp
one runs windows 2000

I have a boot problem with the xp machine and cannot find any friends that have an xp disk to borrow. Like me they all got xp pre-installed and no disc provided. ( microsoft have you by the preverbials).

Not able to download hirens boot cd on my other machines, so as a last resort I am considering purchasing a copy of xp and using that.

The question is which version should I buy Retail or OEM and will the licence allow me to use the one disk to install it on all three machines.

I have managed to download and make a cd of ubuntu but cannot work out how to use that to repair the xp boot problem.
I have tried it direct from the cd; it loads ok but how do I get to the command prompt to run chkdisk ?

thanks John

Wand3r3r · Dec 10, 2010

License will not allow you to install on all three.

98 hardware most likely is too old to run xp properly.

Retail would be the correct choice since OEM is tied to the original equipment manufacturer hardware.

spunk.funk · Dec 10, 2010

Why can't you download Hiren's? You can download UBCD and use that to trouble shoot your XP machine.

john-boy · Dec 11, 2010

The problem with downloads is that only one pc will connect to the internet.
That pc is partitioned to c & d drives ( win98) but due to a second install of windows 98 has run out of disc space on c:
I have tried to delete some programmes to gain enough space to download hirens but cannot get above 250mb free.
I have plenty of space on the other partition d:
Please advise how I can force downloads onto d drive.
Will my cd of ubuntu repair win xp and how do I do it please.
Do I have to fully install it first or can I do it straight off the cd.

Thanks

windows xp home. retail or oem ?

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