[Lilysfleur]

Hello everyone.I received a Compaq Presario Laptop from a friend.Already installed is a version of Windows XP that did not pass validation.I have a Windows media player filled with music as well as misc pictures on my computer.Is it possible to buy Windows Xp or Vista and install it ?Will I lose my music and pictures if I remove the original version of Xp that was not validated?Do I need to do any of this?Thanks for your patience and answers..

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A good idea would be to make a backup of all of your music and other files... say to an external hard drive or to CD(DVD) I know for a fact that if you burn a data dvd you can get 1000+ songs on a single dvd.

After making a backup copy you may be able to buy a valid copy of xp and do a repair. This should go back and ask you to enter a lisence number(which if you buy a copy you should have) then you would be all set. MAKE SURE YOU DONT DO A CLEAN INSTALL AS THIS WILL FORMAT YOUR HARD DRIVE AND YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING, unless you have that backup copy and just want to.

If you plan to go ahead and upgrade to vista I am afraid you will have to have that backup copy to prevent losing your music and pictures. I may be wrong but i am 99.9% positive that upgrading to vista requires a reformat.

Hope something in that helps out!

[SomeCrazyStuff]

A good idea would be to make a backup of all of your music and other files... say to an external hard drive or to CD(DVD) I know for a fact that if you burn a data dvd you can get 1000+ songs on a single dvd.

After making a backup copy you may be able to buy a valid copy of xp and do a repair. This should go back and ask you to enter a lisence number(which if you buy a copy you should have) then you would be all set. MAKE SURE YOU DONT DO A CLEAN INSTALL AS THIS WILL FORMAT YOUR HARD DRIVE AND YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING, unless you have that backup copy and just want to.

If you plan to go ahead and upgrade to vista I am afraid you will have to have that backup copy to prevent losing your music and pictures. I may be wrong but i am 99.9% positive that upgrading to vista requires a reformat.

Hope something in that helps out!

[usasma]

By far the cheapest method will be to obtain Restore/Recover disks from HP/Compaq. They're usually less than $20 (US) and arrive in 4 or 5 days.

Be sure that the sticker on the bottom of the computer has the full Windows product key number - that's the most important thing right now.