A question or 2 (or 3, or 4......)

[deuces wild]

Before I ask it.......hello to my good friends here and sorry for being a stranger. My apologies to not keeping in touch but things in my life have changed.

Anyway...........

We purchased a Dell laptop for our son last Summer as a gift for him graduating the USMC boot camp. The laptop (Dell) came loaded with VISTA as an OS.

Our son has been experiencing problems with the OS and wants to reformat and do a new inslall of WinXP SP2.

Questions:

1. Does he need to purchase WinXP OEM or retail?

2. A local computer store told me that he can send him a Win XP SP2 disk for Dell computers. His claim:

Windows XP Professional Reinstallation CD Service Pack 2 (Green CD)

Does not have COA. You will not need a product key if you have a dell computer.

This will install on any Dell pc or laptop.

These are new disks.

Is it a scam?

3. Can our son successfully reformat his computer which was preciously running VISTA to Win XP without a problem or special instructions for doing so?

Thanks! B)

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Not sure about the OEM version from your local shop; I thought you always need a product key - how could you activate it otherwise? Better wait for some expert advice here.

DELL sells Windows as well (retail); see http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/categor...ategory_id=5571 (he could use the "upgrade" version since he already has Windows (even if it's an actual downgrade)).

P.S. see also http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/categor...a=1136~0~312546

[deuces wild]

Not sure about the OEM version from your local shop; I thought you always need a product key - how could you activate it otherwise? Better wait for some expert advice here.

DELL sells Windows as well (retail); see http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/categor...ategory_id=5571 (he could use the "upgrade" version since he already has Windows (even if it's an actual downgrade)).

P.S. see also http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/categor...a=1136~0~312546

Thanks Pat.