To get the remaining usefull life out of this you would be well advised to upgrade it to the maximum amount of RAM which I think is 2GB. XP with Service Pack 3 does not run well unless it has 1GB or preferably 2GB of Ram.
If you have a retail copy of XP Professional with a valid key then you can install that.
If you want to install XP Home then be aware that the key on the bottom of the laptop will not work unless you have a OEM CD. And will not auto-activate, you will have to telephone activate. Microsoft will hopefully issue a new key.
If you use a Dell XP Home CD it shoud pre-activate with no key required. Borrow one from a friend or relative. The CDs are all the same excepting service pack level. Or look on EBay.
But maybe the hidden factory image partition is still intact. Try F12 at power-on and see can you get to it. Or it might be Ctrl + F11. Do a factory image re-install and then download and install SP3 if not already present. Then all the rest of the Microsoft updates and the latest driver versions for XP from the Dell website.
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
1
August 10th, 2011 13:00
Dell XP restore CD's are not Tied to a specific system. If its a Dell Restore CD it will work fine.
You are not violating any issues if the 1150 came with XP and has an XP COA.
Enceladus
297 Posts
0
March 11th, 2011 16:00
To get the remaining usefull life out of this you would be well advised to upgrade it to the maximum amount of RAM which I think is 2GB. XP with Service Pack 3 does not run well unless it has 1GB or preferably 2GB of Ram.
If you have a retail copy of XP Professional with a valid key then you can install that.
If you want to install XP Home then be aware that the key on the bottom of the laptop will not work unless you have a OEM CD. And will not auto-activate, you will have to telephone activate. Microsoft will hopefully issue a new key.
If you use a Dell XP Home CD it shoud pre-activate with no key required. Borrow one from a friend or relative. The CDs are all the same excepting service pack level. Or look on EBay.
But maybe the hidden factory image partition is still intact. Try F12 at power-on and see can you get to it. Or it might be Ctrl + F11. Do a factory image re-install and then download and install SP3 if not already present. Then all the rest of the Microsoft updates and the latest driver versions for XP from the Dell website.
ieee488
4 Operator
•
11.1K Posts
0
March 11th, 2011 16:00
Yes.
Since you are not the original owner, Dell won't send you the re-install disc.
Retail version of XP Home won't work unless you have an unused product key for it.
Clueless in Seattle
27 Posts
0
August 10th, 2011 11:00
A friend mailed me a couple of CDs both of which are labeled:
Reinstallation CD
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Service Pack 2
The copyrights and product numbers are different though:
P/N UD744 c2005
P/N MW879 c2006
Should these work with my Inspiron 1150?
Would one be a better choice than the other?
Clueless in Seattle
27 Posts
0
August 10th, 2011 17:00
Yup! It´s got the COA, it looks like I´m good to go.
Thanks, SppedStep!