Mac no longer so Miraculous

[danafish]

I have done an awful thing. Last month I partitioned off a chunk of my Mac's hard drive to run on Windows so I could play poker on it, and it worked, and I got very excited. However, instead of being a good girl and buying a copy of Windows, I borrowed a copy from my brother's office, that didn't come with a product key. I now have one day left to activate it before it locks me out, and I have no product key. I have so far also managed to poison Jen's computer trying to download cracks for it. Oops.

So... Does anyone know any of the following:

1) Where I can get a product key for Windows XP Home with SP2 without poisoning any more computers, and, if at all possible, without donating any money to the Microsoft corporation?

2) If it locks me out and I give in to Microsoft's treacherous bullying evil and buy a copy of said Windows version, will the key that I receive with that work with the operating system I have installed?

3) If it locks me out and the new bought key doesn't work owing to aforementioned Microsoft Evil, can I uninstall the "borrowed" operating system and install the bought (£185!!! Bastards) version without re-partitioning my hard drive? And how might such a thing be achieved?

4) Um, how to fix Jen's computer? Sorry Jen. I'll buy you a new one if I can't fix it.

I'm going to cry if I can't get it all working again. You don't want to see me cry, do you? Of course not.

[NoflopsHomer]

As is customary to these sorts of threads:



Boooooooonnnnnnnngoooooooooooooo?

[Tractor]

Hi Dana,
Cant help you with the crack/code etc but i would just buy the oem version of the software much cheaper option -

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=24517214159&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=119646

this does the same as the full software without all the fancy packaging etc.

[danafish]

Hi Dana,
Cant help you with the crack/code etc but i would just buy the oem version of the software much cheaper option -

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=24517214159&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=119646

this does the same as the full software without all the fancy packaging etc.

Ooh, that is cheap, I shall check it out, thanks very much. Although I will definitely have to uninstall the current version of Windows I have before I instal that. Crap. Maybe I'll just do that today out of desperate recklessness before it locks me out forever. Oh God, I don't know what to do.

[Tractor]

I dont think u will have to uninstall that version but not 100% sure (bongo will know for sure).
Just when the disc arrives use that product key and it should be ok.... 

[Bongo]

The keys will work if the version is the same, so if you wanted to buy it without reinstalling you would need to buy the same type (i.e. OEM, Retail or corporate) that you installed. I'm guessing you won't know this and we'll have to find out...

If you need to reinstall you can just do it on your existing partition, so you won't have to repartition the drive - just choose the existing partition during windows install.

What's actually wrong with jen's machine? Does it have any security software on it already?

Have you seen Parallels? Paul Phillips mentioned it in his blog the other day, will allow you to run windows from within OSX...
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

[ifm]

Told ya to get the emulator..................

Anyway what's wrong with paying Bill's paper bill for a day?, you wanna use it afterall.

[snoopy1239]

Have you tried activating the flux capacitor?

[danafish]

Have you tried activating the flux capacitor?

No, that's no good, I'm trying to fix the Windows bit of my computer. I use the Mac bit for travelling through time.

[danafish]

The keys will work if the version is the same, so if you wanted to buy it without reinstalling you would need to buy the same type (i.e. OEM, Retail or corporate) that you installed. I'm guessing you won't know this and we'll have to find out...

If you need to reinstall you can just do it on your existing partition, so you won't have to repartition the drive - just choose the existing partition during windows install.

What's actually wrong with jen's machine? Does it have any security software on it already?

Have you seen Parallels? Paul Phillips mentioned it in his blog the other day, will allow you to run windows from within OSX...
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

I have the evil retail version so it would be a stack of money if I end up having to pay for it...

Is it possible to uninstall Windows once it's locked itself without having the activation key? For instance, if I decided to buy the OEM version, with the retail version still on my computer and locked, would I be able to uninstall the retail version and install the OEM version? Does that make sense?

I have seen parallels, i actually downloaded the trial version a few days ago, although I haven't got it running yet because I found the instructions intimidating in a pathetic, feeble sort of girly way. It does sound very cool, but it would take up more space on my mac hard drive, right? And I've already partitioned off quite a chunk of my hard drive, and it would make me really sad to waste all that lovely hard drive space. I'm also quite keen to get my current xp running because i have a bunch of software on there that i actually paid for... Serves me right for paying for software...

Once again, Windows has completely ruined my day. Thanks though Mr Bongo et al! Except Smoopy, obviously.

[tikay]

The keys will work if the version is the same, so if you wanted to buy it without reinstalling you would need to buy the same type (i.e. OEM, Retail or corporate) that you installed. I'm guessing you won't know this and we'll have to find out...

If you need to reinstall you can just do it on your existing partition, so you won't have to repartition the drive - just choose the existing partition during windows install.

What's actually wrong with jen's machine? Does it have any security software on it already?

Have you seen Parallels? Paul Phillips mentioned it in his blog the other day, will allow you to run windows from within OSX...
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

I have the evil retail version so it would be a stack of money if I end up having to pay for it...

Is it possible to uninstall Windows once it's locked itself without having the activation key? For instance, if I decided to buy the OEM version, with the retail version still on my computer and locked, would I be able to uninstall the retail version and install the OEM version? Does that make sense?

I have seen parallels, i actually downloaded the trial version a few days ago, although I haven't got it running yet because I found the instructions intimidating in a pathetic, feeble sort of girly way. It does sound very cool, but it would take up more space on my mac hard drive, right? And I've already partitioned off quite a chunk of my hard drive, and it would make me really sad to waste all that lovely hard drive space. I'm also quite keen to get my current xp running because i have a bunch of software on there that i actually paid for... Serves me right for paying for software...

Once again, Windows has completely ruined my day. Thanks though Mr Bongo et al! Except Smoopy, obviously.

So was it YOU that bust Jen's Lappie, so it would not work in Bolton? Wow, you are some BRAVE LADY.

[Bongo]

Is it possible to uninstall Windows once it's locked itself without having the activation key? For instance, if I decided to buy the OEM version, with the retail version still on my computer and locked, would I be able to uninstall the retail version and install the OEM version? Does that make sense?

Yes.

Do you have stuff on the windows bit that you want to keep? Do you still have the software install files?

[danafish]

So was it YOU that bust Jen's Lappie, so it would not work in Bolton? Wow, you are some BRAVE LADY.

No, that wasn't me. Jen's laptop wouldn't work in Bolton because she didn't realise that you need the power cable to make it work.

I've broken her OTHER computer.

Jen, I'm really, really sorry.

What's actually wrong with jen's machine? Does it have any security software on it already?

After I unwisely downloaded something suspicious, firefox wouldn't work, so I uninstalled it and downloaded it anew off the internet using IE, but it still wouldn't work, it just kept freezing. Now IE isn't very well either. I ran AdAware on it, which said it had found and quarantined some Trojan Horse-type things, but it's still broken. She says she might just get John to wipe the whole computer and re-install Windows. Jen, I'm really sorry. 

Is it possible to uninstall Windows once it's locked itself without having the activation key? For instance, if I decided to buy the OEM version, with the retail version still on my computer and locked, would I be able to uninstall the retail version and install the OEM version? Does that make sense?

Yes.

Do you have stuff on the windows bit that you want to keep? Do you still have the software install files?

Yeah, there's stuff I want, like the stuff I paid for.     I still have my nice borrowed CD though... 

[Bongo]

If you've paid for it will you not be able to reinstall it?

[danafish]

If you've paid for it will you not be able to reinstall it?

Umm... I don't know. I'm pretty sure t's the kind that you can only download the once otherwise you have to pay for it again... Maybe if I explain my situation to the nice people they'll help me out... It would be nice to save the stuff on there, but honestly, I'm so desperate to get Windows working now I'm not really that bothered about the software currently on there. That's about third or fourth on my list of priorities. Just, you know, that's how stuff would work if I were king.