I got a old laptop that I was going to reformat and reinstall xp home because it's running slow. But the problem is that I lost my recovery cd but I have an OEM system builder version of xp home that I used when I built my desktop. Could I use this to install it to my laptop using the product key from my laptop of course. Been seeing lots of mixed comments when searching for this topic just want to find out before I reformat and I'm suck with no OS.

Greetings and welcome to D-A-L,

The short answer is NO, you can only use your Windows OS CD once along with it's product key. Better to buy a new Windows XP CD, would be going cheaper now with Windows 7 out and about. Lots of different prices here

best regards,

Tallin is right. An OEM disk is licensed to be installed ONLY on the machine for which it was bought - regardless the status or condition of the original machine. To use it on another system is illegal.

You can only transfer "retail" versions of licenses and only when Windows is completely removed from the first machine.

I agree Windows 7 would probably be cheaper now but you may not be able to run it on the older hardware of that notebook. So check it with Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first. Your only other alternative is to make it Linux project.

Question. Did the old system come with XP already installed? Do you have the install key (5 sets of 5 digits) for it? If so, you may be able to use the OEM SB CD to install with but use the good, valid, legal key you have for the older computer.

Worth a try. If it doesn't work, you can always buy another copy of XP.

Not only is using a OEM for one manufacturer one another brand computer illegal sometimes the ability to do so is blocked. However if the "new" laptop has an XP serial number that might work but no guarantees. Its worth a shot and if you use the serial that came with it the laptop it would be legal. Not saying that you would do so, but per our TOS we can't help with illegal (or illegally used) software.