How can i reinstall xp home edition without disc but only with product key

[tinmills]

I bought my pc from dell with xp home edition already installed (they didnt gie me a disc) so all i have is the product key from the sticker on my tower. I got a new RAM & someone said they knew what they were doing when they changed it for me. I got my pc back (running fast) & they put on windows 7 instead of my xp, which ive now discovered is not genuine. I would have been more than happy to upgrade myself, didnt need him being all shady about it. However ive now bought a new laptop & wish to give my pc to a family member, id like to put my genuine windows back on til i or they can afford to get a genuine windows 7 upgrade. Also i could have swore i was operating on a 64-bit but hes changed it to 32-bit (my new RAM is 2G). Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[smorizio]

tinmills you have a few options. one see if the desktop still has it restore partion. some laptops and desktop the vendors now put the disk image onto the hard drive. if the shop did not delete it you can enter it and rerun it. if you have the cd for the pc. there should be a red or blue one that says dell software or os cd. that the one you boot from to restore your pc.
if your missing the disk for small fee dell may still have them for you. if not look on ebay. make sure the disk say the same version as the oem lable. (ie home xp or media xp). you can also file small claims for the cost of the disk/time.

 

[simonchipmunk]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4841635_reinstall-xp-disk.html
this link will show you how to do the install.
if however you have formatted the drive,you will need to either get a copy from Dell, or find another XP install disc. Try Amazon, as ebay may have some nonvalidated install discs for sale.

 

[Chris679]

About the 64 and 32-bit, not much can be done unless you decide to install a new operating system (Thats when you choose the 64-bit Operating System)..A reason why he probably changed it to 32-bit is because while 2GB RAM is the minimum for a 64-bit operating system, it is preferred that you upgrade to 4 or 8GB when running a 64-bit.

Another thought is, instead of saving money for a new OS, try out a Linux...It worked for me (Linux Mint Qiana 17 MATE) which is free and readily available on linxmint.com ...It's not hard to use too..

Sorry for your loss though...I dont get why he had to install a new OS, replacing or adding new RAM doesnt necessarily require this..