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Not sure if any of you remember me saying I was having Com-puter problems several months back..my daughter was playing on my computer and accidently clicked on D/L automatic updates while she was playing a game...My computer starting running real slow so I hit the POWERSURGE button and turned the computer off..when I tried to turn it back on my windows XP would not reboot..kept giving me an error message..well..I got by for a little while using my ex's..

Here is the Kicker..my nephew has a Dell with windows Vista loaded in it..I borrowed his START-UP disc from his Dell and loaded windows Vista onto my HP Pavillion..it is running it with limited Functionality..it says at the bottom of my computer screen This is not a Genuine Version of Windows Vista..so I cant validate it..so now..my computer will stay online for about 15 minutes then it will automatically shut off..has been doing that for a while and its very aggravating..

DOES ANYONE know if there is a site on the internet..ANYWHERE..that you can download a copy of Windows XP..or can you buy a startup disc somewhere..?

Hi Caleb, Try the microsoft store at  http://store.microsoft.com or call 1-877-696-7786.Hope this helps!

Sorry-I mean Lotterybraker!

You can pick up an install copy of WinXP Pro at TigerDirect.com; that's where I got mine from, just finished loading 4 systems this past month.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2571830&Sku=M17-7503

okie dokie..thanks for the Info...

I remember.

There were or are, but using a downloaded copy of MS Windows is against the law and it would still need to be validated in some way or the validation by-passed and those things are also illegal.

But as stated, you can buy a legal copy of Windows XP and first try to install Windows XP over Windows XP, but because of the Vista start-up CD installation that you did, that might not work now.

You can always do a "Clean" installation of WinXP, but as you didn't "save" the hardware drivers, you might stil have trouble, maybe or maybe not.

As I said before, you might try to get local help from somebody who knows about these things, maybe a relative or a neighbor.

Otherwise find paid help or buy another Pc.

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Before I started to use my own Pc, I made sure that I could fix any future software problems.

I learned with my Win98SE Pc.

Now-days, I don't have to worry about any kind of software problems, that is, I worry, but they are only minor problems.

For a real problem, I would have to have hardware problems, but hard-drive failure would not be too big of a problem.

Learning a few things about PCs is not too hard.

I experimented a lot on my very old Win98SE Pc, I made it software-crash very many times, but I learned how to fix it, it was relatively easy.

Main thing to do is to save a copy of the hardware drivers as they might be hard or impossible to find on the Internet.

Otherwise make a copy of the Windows installation in some way.

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After software and or hardware failure(s) it is already too late, be ready while everything is still O.K.

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if you don't want to have to deal with activations-validations then maybe you would like to buy a copy of Windows 2000 I read that all you have to do is enter the serial code on it.

It should be as or almost as good as WinXP and also run most softwares.

You can get one with service pack 4 or later download and install SP4, maybe Windows 2000 Professional SP4.

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There also are free operational systems such as Linux, use Google to find them with.

You could try:

http://www.opensuse.org/en/

A high speed internet connection is needed or instead you could buy a DVD.

I would have just tryed a restore from a point before the D/L problem! But then hindsight is 20/20.

sometimes your computer has a sticker on the back with a windows xp key. borrow someones disc, and use the key that comes with the cd.
then change the key to the one on your computer following this guide
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5034890.html
make sure you have someone who knows what they are doing help you out during the process

or use Ubuntu. its fast easy and free, and better then windows in some ways

http://www.ubuntu.com/