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Installing windows question


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Hey all,

Question for you techs. I have a laptop that the hard dirve shit the bed. I have a new harddrive for it now. But my question is about getting windows on to it. I have a windows key that is for the laptop but dont need to get the software onto it.

 

I can get the recovery cd...will that work?

 

I have a windows xp cd...but its for another pc...does it matter, or can I just use that cd and my old KEY that was for this laptop?

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Yup,

Any disc is fine, the key is what is important.!

 

A windows disc is not "for another PC" it may have came with it, but it is able to use on any computer.. and as long as you have a key that works you're good to go.

 

 

I think the key code will work on like 4 or 5 computers before it is invalid.. anyone know.?

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Well with an ociliscope you can test it but I doubt you have a $5000.00 piece of test equipment laying around the house. Plus you would need the spec sheet on that model and the training to know what your looking for. However, you could simply put your ram in the place of another in another computer provided its the same type of card. ie: DIMM SIMM DDR RIMM SDRAM

 

There are downloads out there that will test it but since the machine is down, it wont help you.

 

I would take the old ram card\cards out and take it to Office depot or whatever you have in that area and get one that matches. As cheap as ram is right now this would be my first step in the troubleshooting proccess.

 

Here is an article that will help explain why I think it is your ram.

 

Does your Windows-based PC crash for no apparent reason? Well OK, mine does too, but does yours crash often? At random times? With Nasty blue Screens of Death? If the answer is "yes", you may very well have a memory problem. Faulty memory, or RAM, is often the cause of the dreaded 'flaky PC' syndrome, those hard-to-replicate errors that get you nasty looks from the store technician because "…nothing seems to be wrong with it. Sir."

 

In this short but sweet guide, PCstats will discuss the common symptoms of faulty memory as well as looking at a handful of free memory testing software programs which can help you diagnose your troubles.

 

When good RAM goes bad

 

Seeing as it consists only of a handful of Silicon memory chips (called DRAM) soldered to a small circuit board, computer memory is actually much more resistant to failure than most other computer parts. Having said that, it is also produced and distributed in more volume than any other computer part so it sort of evens out.

 

Memory DRAM chips are tested by their manufacturers before they are shipped, and this weeds out virtually all the 'defect' chips prior to sale. However, computer memory is also vulnerable to a variety of situations that can turn your working sticks of DDR or SDRAM memory sour.

 

Electrostatic shock from improper handling can damage memory. Try to avoid stroking your cat while you install your new 1GB DDR module! Likewise, power surges or poor power supplies can also damage your computer's memory, sometimes gradually. The same can be said for raising memory voltage too high if you are overclocking.

 

If your computer is excessively dusty, or is located in a humid environment the contacts between the memory module and the memory slot can be interfered with or corroded. Heat, either from other components or the RAM itself can also cause gradual damage. Obviously, careless handling can also damage computer memory by causing physical harm to the circuit board or contacts. This is one of the reasons why we advocate memory heat spreaders - they don't really do much in the way of cooling sticks of DDR, but they do offer a nice level of protection from handling.

 

Another factor to take into consideration is the possibility of defects in the memory slots of your computer's motherboard. These can be damaged by the same means as listed above, and can cause confusion, since any memory module plugged into a defective slot will appear to be defective even though it really isn't

 

Fortunately, as modern computer memory is produced uniformly and has relatively few points of failure as compared to other computer parts, manufacturers are able to provide decent warranty support. Most 'brand name' memory purchased directly form suppliers like Corsair, Crucial or Kingston carries a lifetime warranty, while 'white box' memory purchased from resellers typically has a longer warranty than most equivalent products, generally three years.

 

Signs of bad memory: 1. Starts Smoking, 2. Becomes Moody...

 

The indicators of faulty memory are legion, but let's start with a few common ones. From the top:

 

 

Blue screens during the install procedure of Windows 2000 or XP. This is one of the surest signs of faulty memory.

Random crashes or blue screens during the running of 2000 or XP. Note that heat can also be a culprit in the case of general flakiness like this, so you should test for that possibility too.

Crashes during memory intensive operations. 3D games, benchmarks, compiling, Photoshop, etc.

Distorted graphics on screen. This can also be related to the video card.

Failure to boot. This can be accompanied by repeated long beeps, which is the accepted BIOS beep code for a memory problem. In this circumstance, you cannot test the memory with diagnostic software, so your only option is testing by replacement, either at home or at your computer dealer.

 

Hope this helps,

Grinder

 

 

 

 

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FWIW, if/when I need to test & verify whether or not I have memory-related issues, I use a program called Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/). Using the program is as simple as downloading an ISO disk image, burning it to CD, and then booting from the CD to run the app. The downside to this, of course, is if your machine doesn't boot at all, it's all for naught. If your machine at least starts up (it doesn't have to boot into the OS, just power on and proceed through it's POST), then it should be able to boot from the app and proceed through the tests.

 

As far as the OS CD is concerned, if you're dealing with a retail copy of the operating system CD, you're good to go regardless of the machine you're trying to install it on (provided of course that you have the serial number for the CD you're using). If you're trying to install the OS from, let's say, a Dell Windows XP CD (on a machine that's not a Dell), it's prolly not going to work.

 

I hope this helps. :)

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Here is where this is,

 

It is sitting next to me and I have done nothing with it LOL.

 

If I turn it on rite now it says, Error loading operating system. This is what it has said from the git go.

I figured it was the hard drive and bought a new one. I put the hard drive in and tried to install windows from a retail cd that my buddy has and the laptop shuts down completley during install. I tried a few times and it always does the same thing.

 

The retail XP cd I have, but I want to use the xp code that came with the laptop, not my budddies code. But this is not an issue yet as I cant get windows to install.

 

I may just buy new ram and try that.

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I had this problem a while back on one of my older machines. Installing XP kept freezing my machine and it would never fully install. What I did was install Win 2K. Went to bootdisk.com and got the bootup floppies to start the process and then inserted a Win 2K CD. Once I had everything up and running, I upgraded to XP. If you have a copy of Win 2K somewhere, you may want to give that a try. Its a longer process, but it could work.

 

Also, as far as the Keys go, I've noticed that a retail copy of XP will allow you to install up to 5 times. A pirated copy will allow you to install as many times as you want.

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