[Melissaa2008]

okay, we recently just got a computer given to us. we know nothing about it. All I know is that it is white with blue lights and it has like an alien symbol on the top and on the side as fan covers of some sort. The left side is clear, and you can see inside it. It starts up and tells us to put a system restore disk in it. We have tried a dell, a microsoft a hp and i think a gateway. I looked all over it, and inside it for numbers or anything that would tell me what it is. I found on the back next to the speaker jack that says "041716884" I looked inside and found a processer i believe and it has a 4 on it and it says LC-A35oatx . on a little green thing inside it says 1066690E0051226 .

really need help here please

Edited by Melissaa2008, 30 August 2008 - 04:35 PM.

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Welcome to geeks to go Melissaa2008 .

Since if have not indicated any decals of HP, Compaq, Dell, etc, I suspect you have a home built computer, but then its asking for a restore disk. Restore disks are usually used by the manufacturers.

Can you get a good look at the main board for any wording/ numbers.
Also, when you boot it up, try tapping F8 to get into bios. That could give us some info.
When you boot up, does anything come up on the screen? Especially in the upper left (usually). It shouls list a bios versio. That might give us some info.

[123Runner]

Welcome to geeks to go Melissaa2008 .

Since if have not indicated any decals of HP, Compaq, Dell, etc, I suspect you have a home built computer, but then its asking for a restore disk. Restore disks are usually used by the manufacturers.

Can you get a good look at the main board for any wording/ numbers.
Also, when you boot it up, try tapping F8 to get into bios. That could give us some info.
When you boot up, does anything come up on the screen? Especially in the upper left (usually). It shouls list a bios versio. That might give us some info.

[Melissaa2008]

i don't know where the main board is. =[

when it boots up - a black screen comes up and says restoring from disk then it when we put in the windows xp home edition it tells us to give a file destination or something like that and that is where we are lost. we are making some progress with it.

i got some photos of it. if these help any.






in the beginning i noticed a bunch of loose wires and my parents said that it was nothing (yes i am working with my parents on this one, and im going to have grey hairs by the time im done) my mother said it didnt have a hard drive, so we got one out of another old computer, and put it in this one - then it started to accept the windows xp home edition but then it told us to enter the product key. we googled how to get the product key from the disk. we got it and it repeatedly told us it was worng. when it was perfect. what thats all about i have no clue.

[123Runner]

You need the product key for the XP home that you are installing. The product key should be with the cd. It is not the 1 on the hard drive that you installed. The product keys are matched to the cd.

FYI: I just tried a google search for "how to get product key from cd". It did not work. What it shows for mine is wrong.

[Titan8990]

Whenever I buy or acquire machine like that and they are toasted I just drop XP and install Linux. That looks like a homebuilt. Most likely with a OEM key. If you can't get your hands on that key your looking at $100 for a copy of Windows or $0 for a copy of Linux.

[Melissaa2008]

i did the tapping F8 key and it opens up to "windows advanced options menu"

no matter what way I choose to start it it already has XP home edition set for all of that.

i keep telling it to cancel out of xp but it reboots and goes back into it.

im unfamiliar with linux. how would i get it onto that computer? burn it to a cd?

it won't accept anything right now. all it wants is windows xp home edition and i can't get to the prudct key. even though that site said that was the correct way to get it.

we don't have to product key for the windows xp home. we've got 2 copies with no codes.

[wizzy2k5]

$0 for a copy of Linux.

Unless you get another distrobution that you have to buy but yes I agree 100% with Titan8990 and with Linux you can do every day to day tasks that you need to do, anything from office work to anything you want really.

Yes not alot of modern applications will work with Linux but with most distrobutions being open source alot of community members write their own programs for Linux and some are alot better than commercial products

[Titan8990]

Alright, if you are able to get that far into the boot process you might be able to recover the CD key. You will need a working copy of Windows to make a boot disk.


Create a Bart's PE disc: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/#start.


When you boot to Bart's PE you can use a program called Everest to find the CD key of the Windows installation.


Linux is a roll of the dice. Some people load a fresh install and everything is perfect. Others have issues with compatibility. Some are overwhelmed by having to relearn things they knew how to do Windows. You can give it a try via a live CD that will not affect your computer: http://www.ubuntu.co...ubuntu/download, PC Linux OS.

Edited by Titan8990, 02 September 2008 - 10:35 PM.