886ee807   
   From: DONT.EVEN.TRY.IT@DEADSPAM.COM   
      
   Sentinel  once tried to test me. I ate their   
   liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti   
      
   > I have a question which I was hoping some of you have experience with.   
   >   
   > An acquaintance of mine has a PC that AFAIK came with Win XP   
   > preloaded. He doesn't seem to have anything in the way of install   
   > disks. And wouldn't you know, his Windows installation has gone belly   
   > up (is that an expression? Anyway…)   
   >   
   > He does have a sticker on his PC with a Windows Key code.   
   >   
   > With that code, can I reinstall from any XP CD-ROM, say if I were to   
   > use one of my own?   
      
   I give it a 10% chance of working.... Firstly, your's is an Acer disc,   
   which maybe BIOS locked to an Acer PC (sucks, I know) so that's a 50/50   
   chance that you may not even get the disc to work.   
      
   Then you run the risk of the version on your CD having a Key that does   
   not match the key he has.  In work we have IBM's with the sticker on the   
   side, but the sticker key doesn't work with the Fujitsu disc we keep   
   using to repair failed machines, and have to use an authentic Microsoft   
   key from a retail version we bought.  It looks like the sticker key only   
   works with the IBM build.   
      
   I'd say download a torrent version of XP and burn it to CD, at least   
   that way you are getting an MS version and not an OEM locked version,   
   then if his key doesn't work, you can at least find a key that will work   
   on-line, but the sticker on his PC will make it legal...ish..   
      
   Best bet is to go back to the manufacturer and say "Oi!"   
      
   --   
   Thank you kindly   
      
   POD  {Ò¿Ó}   
   ¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸   
      Oh people, know that you have committed great sins.   
       If you ask me what proof I have for these words,   
       I say it is because I am the punishment of God.   
            If you had not committed great sins,   
     God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.   
   ¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)