Question about XP MCE Repair/Reinstall

I posted earlier about this and thanks for the suggestions but I still have
a problem. In summary, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop which is about 2yrs old.
It has XP Media Center Edition installed and the OS has developed a problem.
I believe some of the files have become corrupt and I need to either repair
the Windows installation or reinstall it. The problem is, Sony did not
provide the OS disks and is unable (or not willing) to provide these disks.
Their advice is to use the recovery partition which would wipe out my
C-drive partion and I'd lose my files, installed programs over the past 2
years, etc.

I have borrowed CDs from a friend for XP which also contains the Media
Center Version and has SP2 slipstreamed. These CDs were created based on
the retail version not an OEM version. My Sony laptop has the product KEY
on an external label on the underside of the laptop.

Questions:
1) Can I expect that the product key I have will work with these CDs? I
want this to be legal and cause no problems for updates, etc.
2) Assuming the answer above is affirmative, should there be an option to
REPAIR the Windows OS as opposed to reinstalling? I don't want to lose all
the files on my C-drive. Will reinstalling XP MCE cause a loss of data or
will the process only affect the Windows OS files and directories?

Thanks,
jch

mad NAT'er wrote:
> I posted earlier about this and thanks for the suggestions but I
> still have a problem. In summary, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop which
> is about 2yrs old. It has XP Media Center Edition installed and the
> OS has developed a problem. I believe some of the files have become
> corrupt and I need to either repair the Windows installation or
> reinstall it. The problem is, Sony did not provide the OS disks and
> is unable (or not willing) to provide these disks. Their advice is to
> use the recovery partition which would wipe out my C-drive partion
> and I'd lose my files, installed programs over the past 2 years, etc.
>
> I have borrowed CDs from a friend for XP which also contains the Media
> Center Version and has SP2 slipstreamed. These CDs were created
> based on the retail version not an OEM version. My Sony laptop has
> the product KEY on an external label on the underside of the laptop.

I always thought that *all* XP MCE disks were OEM. Perhaps instead of
retail, you mean generic (i.e., not branded) OEM, e.g., for System
Builders. See:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wind.../dp/B000JTFVM4

> Questions:
> 1) Can I expect that the product key I have will work with these CDs?
> I want this to be legal and cause no problems for updates, etc.

I would imagine it would work. You could always image your hard drive
first just to be on the safe side.

> 2) Assuming the answer above is affirmative, should there be an
> option to REPAIR the Windows OS as opposed to reinstalling? I don't
> want to lose all the files on my C-drive. Will reinstalling XP MCE
> cause a loss of data or will the process only affect the Windows OS
> files and directories?

The option *should* be there. If for some reason it isn't, don't
continue or you'll wind up performing a clean install!

I Googled the other thread you mentioned:

http://groups.google.com/group/micro...be7e28453fb7b9

Pheasant mentioned he got the full installation disk from Sony for $21.
Did you try this yet? For my money, that would be the way to go.

You *might* be able to create your own installation CD. See:

http://www.howtohaven.com/system/cre...etupdisk.shtml

Finally, in case you want to give it the old college try, you should
probably be able to tackle the malware directly (without resorting to a
repair or clean install). See:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

If you still believe you have system file issues, you should be able to
run System File Checker without an installation disk as long as you have
the I386 folder on your hard drive:

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

Tap the F8 key on pc start-up,if the OS cd is on a partition,you should get
the option in F8 to repair xp or reinstall.

"mad NAT'er" wrote:

> I posted earlier about this and thanks for the suggestions but I still have
> a problem. In summary, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop which is about 2yrs old.
> It has XP Media Center Edition installed and the OS has developed a problem.
> I believe some of the files have become corrupt and I need to either repair
> the Windows installation or reinstall it. The problem is, Sony did not
> provide the OS disks and is unable (or not willing) to provide these disks.
> Their advice is to use the recovery partition which would wipe out my
> C-drive partion and I'd lose my files, installed programs over the past 2
> years, etc.
>
> I have borrowed CDs from a friend for XP which also contains the Media
> Center Version and has SP2 slipstreamed. These CDs were created based on
> the retail version not an OEM version. My Sony laptop has the product KEY
> on an external label on the underside of the laptop.
>
> Questions:
> 1) Can I expect that the product key I have will work with these CDs? I
> want this to be legal and cause no problems for updates, etc.
> 2) Assuming the answer above is affirmative, should there be an option to
> REPAIR the Windows OS as opposed to reinstalling? I don't want to lose all
> the files on my C-drive. Will reinstalling XP MCE cause a loss of data or
> will the process only affect the Windows OS files and directories?
>
> Thanks,
> jch
>
>
>

Thanks but this only gives me the normal Safe Mode booting options. Sony
apparently didn't load the OS CDs directly on the other partition.

"Andrew E." <eckrichco@msn.com> wrote in message
news:7C365D99-1500-44DD-A1AB-F4BB435179F3@microsoft.com...
> Tap the F8 key on pc start-up,if the OS cd is on a partition,you should
> get
> the option in F8 to repair xp or reinstall.
>
> "mad NAT'er" wrote:
>
>> I posted earlier about this and thanks for the suggestions but I still
>> have
>> a problem. In summary, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop which is about 2yrs
>> old.
>> It has XP Media Center Edition installed and the OS has developed a
>> problem.
>> I believe some of the files have become corrupt and I need to either
>> repair
>> the Windows installation or reinstall it. The problem is, Sony did not
>> provide the OS disks and is unable (or not willing) to provide these
>> disks.
>> Their advice is to use the recovery partition which would wipe out my
>> C-drive partion and I'd lose my files, installed programs over the past 2
>> years, etc.
>>
>> I have borrowed CDs from a friend for XP which also contains the Media
>> Center Version and has SP2 slipstreamed. These CDs were created based on
>> the retail version not an OEM version. My Sony laptop has the product
>> KEY
>> on an external label on the underside of the laptop.
>>
>> Questions:
>> 1) Can I expect that the product key I have will work with these CDs? I
>> want this to be legal and cause no problems for updates, etc.
>> 2) Assuming the answer above is affirmative, should there be an option to
>> REPAIR the Windows OS as opposed to reinstalling? I don't want to lose
>> all
>> the files on my C-drive. Will reinstalling XP MCE cause a loss of data
>> or
>> will the process only affect the Windows OS files and directories?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> jch
>>
>>
>>

On Mar 12, 7:44*am, "mad NAT'er" <mad...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Thanks but this only gives me the normal Safe Mode booting options. *Sony
> apparently didn't load the OS CDs directly on the other partition.
>
> "Andrew E." <eckric...@msn.com> wrote in message
>
> news:7C365D99-1500-44DD-A1AB-F4BB435179F3@microsoft.com...
>
>
>
> > *Tap the F8 key on pc start-up,if the OS cd is on a partition,you should
> > get
> > the option in F8 to repair xp or reinstall.
>
> > "mad NAT'er" wrote:
>
> >> I posted earlier about this and thanks for the suggestions but I still
> >> have
> >> a problem. *In summary, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop which is about 2yrs
> >> old.
> >> It has XP Media Center Edition installed and the OS has developed a
> >> problem.
> >> I believe some of the files have become corrupt and I need to either
> >> repair
> >> the Windows installation or reinstall it. *The problem is, Sony did not
> >> provide the OS disks and is unable (or not willing) to provide these
> >> disks.
> >> Their advice is to use the recovery partition which would wipe out my
> >> C-drive partion and I'd lose my files, installed programs over the past2
> >> years, etc.
>
> >> I have borrowed CDs from a friend for XP which also contains the Media
> >> Center Version and has SP2 slipstreamed. *These CDs were created based on
> >> the retail version not an OEM version. *My Sony laptop has the product
> >> KEY
> >> on an external label on the underside of the laptop.
>
> >> Questions:
> >> 1) Can I expect that the product key I have will work with these CDs? *I
> >> want this to be legal and cause no problems for updates, etc.
> >> 2) Assuming the answer above is affirmative, should there be an option to
> >> REPAIR the Windows OS as opposed to reinstalling? *I don't want to lose
> >> all
> >> the files on my C-drive. *Will reinstalling XP MCE cause a loss of data
> >> or
> >> will the process only affect the Windows OS files and directories?
>
> >> Thanks,
> >> jch- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Recovery parttions / CDs is an "image" of the hard drive at the time
the PC was leaving the factory. You do not get a complete OS install
image.

Media Center Edition was never s "retail" product. Every one is a OEM
version and it is supposed to be sold "pre-installed" on a media
center PC. However, some places will sell the install CD as a
product. You need to note that Microsoft will not provide support for
any OEM versions directly since OEM versions are to be supported by
the "place of purchase."