I recently had my hard drive crash on my laptop and have had to revert to using my desktop. however, my desktop has not been internet compatible for a couple years. in an attempt to fix the problem (since all other options had been exhausted), my roommate decided to reinstall the operating system on my desktop. afterwords, my computer ended up having a older operating system, it is slower, and it isn’t compatible with a few things i had before. so i would like to know where i can get a downloadable version of windows xp media center edition for free, it works properly, and it runs smoothly. any advise would be greatly appreciated. thank you and God bless.
✅ Answers
What version of Windows did your roommate put on the computer?
Windows Media Center (XP) is % indentical to the original Windows XP. It only includes some additional software that allows the computer to do video editing. Everything else is identical. It is neither “newer” or “older” than any other version of XP.
The only thing that makes XP “newer” is whether it has any of the Service Packs installed. (SP, SP, or SP). Those are all free downloads you can get from Microsoft.com and run on your current version of XP. If you install SP, you do not need SP. It is included in SP.
There is nowhere that you can get a free legal copy of Windows Media Center. It has never been offered for sale. You could only get it if you purchased a PC with it pre-installed, because it has to have specific video hardware to run.
If you had Media Center before, and still have the activation code, you may be able to find a copy on one of the Torrent download sites. But the legality of doing that is questionable.
I don’t know what he ( your roommate ) put in it, or how. Did he just reinstall your system, or did he put a completely different system in it. If he reinstalled it, that means he did a system recovery, which would put the factory system back on clean.
Try doing a system recovery of your own. At start up, keep pushing the F key until it reaches the screen for system recovery. Start pushing the button as soon as the power supply fires up, & the fan & hard drive start spinning.
Next, you want to select the “Advanced” tab to get to the “Destructive” option. Choose this & a screen will come up warning you that all files will be lost/ removed, something like that. This is the option you want. You’ll be removing everything except your “D” drive, where the recovery section is. A complete Windows reinstall.
Follow the Ques as they come after a few minutes, if there is still a “D” section on your computer. ( Again, I don’t know what your roommate did! This is what he SHOULD have done! ) It’s quite simple, & for the most part, you just keep hitting enter, except for your registration name, & workgroup. Windows will restart itself, load & go through the installment process part .
Eventually, it will restart & want to take you through that mundane tour, but you can click out of that.
After that, go to control panel> ad or remove & remove any unwanted programs. ( like XP tour, AOL, outdated anti viruses, ect.. )
This is all providing your “D” drive is still there, I hope it is. It will give you your original LEGAL Windows XP back!
Good Luck, I hope this helps! 🙂
Come on. Windows Media Center Edition is the cheapest version of Windows. If you can’t afford that, I suggest you get a second day job. Pay the $ or so bucks and buy it legally. It costs money to make that product, pay it.
There are no free downloads of any version of Windows. You’ll need to buy a copy. Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com both have good prices and selections. You could also look into a free OS like Linux.
Go GNU/Linix, get Free as in Freedom.No DRM, No shareare, no bloateware or any junk allowed, it is secure by design, and works.
But still makea backup of critical data.
Source(s): gNewSence
Ubuntu
PC-BSD
you cant
you need to buy it now