Windows 7: XP on new PC

Not sure if this is the right place but here goes. A friend of mine had a Dell XP that the MB just took a dive. He asked if I could build him a new PC with XP. Problem...I think the Dell disks will only work on Dell and he is not sure if an XP disk was included (he's looking). I have XP but no longer use it. He has some programs from his work that warn NO WINDOWS VISTA or 7 . The software has a bad dislike of Vista and 7. I have all the SP's on disk so I can get him up to date no problem. Am I stepping over the line legally if I use XP? Thanks for the feedback.

I wouldn't think you'd be doing anything illegal. Just be sure to use his product key and activate it, and you should be good.

Yeah, as long as you're not using the key and you're not selling it to him then I think you're fine as well.

You definately do NOT want to use the Dell disks with a new motherboard. Those disks are specifically designed for the existing motherboard. Your going to want to have the correct chipset drivers installed on the motherboard, which the Dell disks will NOT have on them. Just install XP using your clean install CD, then use his key to activate. All should be well then.

Hi there
on a modern PC this is VERY UNLIKELY to work as the disks will be SATA. I'll almost bet you a million dollars to a bucket load of "Rear End of Horse" that if you just try and run a Windows XP install disk (even with SP3 installed) you'll get a message "Windows is unable to find any Hard disks".

You won't be able to dynamically load the drivers either - even if you have them since the Windows XP install will tell you to press F6 (I think) and insert a floppy disk -- ages since I saw one of those.

What you need to do is integrate the SATA drivers BEFORE doing the install.

You'll find plenty of help on this site.

http://driverpacks.net/driverpacks

Browse the relevant links to find out what you need to do -- it's not that difficult -- and burn to CD (or DVD) +RW so if you make mistakes you can re-burn.

Cheers
jimbo

Here's how I Slipstreamed my Sata driver so XP would install in a new computer.

You could also run XP Mode in Windows 7

I'm well aware of that. However, it's better that the OP not even attempt it, which is why I posted that comment.