Can I install Windows XP using one manufacturer's CD on a different pc?

In my experience, I used a windowsxp distribution disk from LG to install to my IBM/Lenovo notebook.

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Karl T.N.
www.traveltovietnam.cc

If you use for example a dell reinstall for windows xp and you use it for a hp computer. It will work but will tell you that you have to activate windows within 30 days. Also a lil pop will appear in your task manager from time to time reminding you to do so.

I bought a used computer a few years ago with a COA copy of XP Pro, which used to validate as a legit copy , but will not anymore (I suspect the seller was using his employer's COA licenses w/o their permission). Meanwhile, I bought an old Dell Dimension 4400 without a hard drive, and installed the hard drive from my other computer into it. When I called up Dell about something else, they mentioned they could send me a reinstall Cd for XP Home. So now I have a CD for XP Home, but Dell will only support a clean install, and I'm not sure I want to downgrade from XP pro to XP home. I definitely don't want to reinstall everything on my computer, since there are other programs I don't have disks from. So, two questions: is there any chance the XP Home disk can be used to validate the copy of XP Pro that's already one the hard drive? If nbot, is there a way to downgrade from the nonvalidatable XP pro to the valid XP Home without having to reinstall everything on my computer?

I used a Windows Professional 2000 CD from DELL to reformat a new, blank hardrive on a separate computer that used to have Windows ME (this was a DELL computer) for NTFS (needed to use it for backup purposes). It formatted the harddrive correctly, but then it installed the OS and, although it was unintended, it works perfectly.

my son has a dell xps but warranty expire, he has error message that say \windows\system32\config\system at start up
and use the set up disk for windows and press r to repair but he has a problem he dose not has the setup disk;He cannot get pass this screen can some one help him.!! Thank you.

my son has a dell xps but warranty expire, he has error message that say \windows\system32\config\system at start up
and use the set up disk for windows and press r to repair
but he has a problem he dose not has the setup disk;He cannot get pass this screen can some one help him.!! Thank you.

For the user who has got dell xps with error message at startup, is this the message,

"Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM "

it means the system registry hive is corrupted, you need to follow this article "http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545"
this will only work if you have sucessfully started the computer at least once before, if you have reinstalled etc since the error came up, it wont work and you will need to use the dell recovery disk if you have got one

I have a HP machine that I am trying to install the OEM disk I got from HP for WinXP. When I enter the key from the bottom of my pc it tells me that the key is invalid. Any ideas? I called HP and they told me that I needed to talk to Microsoft and Microsoft told me that it is an HP problem. Am I going to have to buy a new XP cd??

Some different versions of the install disks will not accept every key during the install. If you can get through the install portion without having to enter a key you should be fine and should be able to use any windows xp key. If it is a volume license disk, they have special keys. The brand should not matter except for specific drivers you must download from the website.

I've used a Dell OEM Windows XP disk to reformat and install the operating system on a couple of other brand computers,a Gateway and a Compaq,never had a problem .You do need to get your drivers from the computers manufactures website,and a valid product key is needed for activation.