The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Dell OEM Restoration Question

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by gengerald, Mar 23, 2010.

  1. gengerald

    gengerald Technofile Extraordinaire

    Reputations:
    674
    Messages:
    1,961
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Hey All,

    I have a quick question regarding reinstalling the operating system on a Dell. I have checked the guides and done a forum search with no luck as to the specific issue:

    Does the service pack of the Dell restore CD need to match the service pack of the computer when initially shipped? I have Dell Windows XP Home SP1 and SP2 disks, but the current computer I am helping a friend with may have shipped with SP3. I know I can order the discs from Dell, just hoping to save some time.

    Many thanks, G.
     
    gengerald, Mar 23, 2010
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

    Reputations:
    2,962
    Messages:
    8,231
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    216
    You can use installation media with any Service Pack you want, you just need to stick with Home if your machine came with Home and Professional if your machine came with Professional, etc.

    The latter is not a technical limitation, but a legal limitation.
     
    Commander Wolf, Mar 23, 2010
    #2
  3. gengerald

    gengerald Technofile Extraordinaire

    Reputations:
    674
    Messages:
    1,961
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Sweet, thanks for the clarification CW!
     
    gengerald, Mar 23, 2010
    #3