Possible to download *just* media for Windows XP Home?

In message , "Ken Blake,
MVP" writes:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any
old "key" into any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was
made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

Well done: that's what I was trying to say, but you managed to say it in
far fewer words (and thus much easier to understand)!

I suspect Tim actually meant that anyway, too.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

Computers make it easy for humans to make mistakes that are hard to fix -
Thomas
Landauer (author and psychiatry professor), quoted by Colin Barker (Computing
1999-2-18, p. 21)

In message , "Ken Blake,
MVP" writes:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any
old "key" into any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was
made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

Well done: that's what I was trying to say, but you managed to say it in
far fewer words (and thus much easier to understand)!

I suspect Tim actually meant that anyway, too.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

Computers make it easy for humans to make mistakes that are hard to fix -
Thomas
Landauer (author and psychiatry professor), quoted by Colin Barker (Computing
1999-2-18, p. 21)

On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:17:32 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , "Ken Blake,
MVP" writes:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any
old "key" into any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was
made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

Well done: that's what I was trying to say, but you managed to say it in
far fewer words (and thus much easier to understand)!

I suspect Tim actually meant that anyway, too.


Perhaps that's what Tim meant, but I didn't read it way, so I thought
I'd clarify it.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:17:32 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , "Ken Blake,
MVP" writes:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any
old "key" into any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was
made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

Well done: that's what I was trying to say, but you managed to say it in
far fewer words (and thus much easier to understand)!

I suspect Tim actually meant that anyway, too.


Perhaps that's what Tim meant, but I didn't read it way, so I thought
I'd clarify it.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98, WinME and
WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any similar XP
version?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any old "key" into
any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98, WinME and
WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any similar XP
version?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:20:31 -0000, "Tim Meddick"
wrote:

Every copy of Windows is different - you can't just "paste" in any old "key" into
any
copy of Windows - no, each key is unique to that copy (cd-rom) it was made for.


Sorry, but that's *not* correct. Keys are not made for each CD. Each
key is unique, but the CDs are not, so any key will work with a CD
that it matches with respect to Home vs. Professional, Retail vs
Generic OEM, Full vs Upgrade).

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

In message , Tim Meddick
writes:
(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98,
WinME and WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

In what sense was it "a valid key"? For what? (Though I do remember - a
_long_ time ago - finding that a key from one Microsoft product worked
with another: I think that might have been Windows 95 and Office 95. But
as I say, that was a long time ago. Almost certainly not now.)

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any
similar XP version?
[]
I think what Ken and I mean is this: the CDs are not made individually -
they're mass-produced, much like audio CDs. (For a long time I've
wondered why they _don't_ make a CD with a tiny writable part, but they
don't.) [XP isn't different in this respect.] If you were to obtain two
CDs for the same product - two retail copies of XP, 98, Office, or
probably even Vista or 7 - then as long as they were _exactly_ the same
product (Home or Pro, retail or OEM, if OEM for the same batch of
hardware), then the same key would work with both - until you went
online to register the second one, at least. But it _would_ get you
through the installation process.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer
(1842-1914)

In message , Tim Meddick
writes:
(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98,
WinME and WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

In what sense was it "a valid key"? For what? (Though I do remember - a
_long_ time ago - finding that a key from one Microsoft product worked
with another: I think that might have been Windows 95 and Office 95. But
as I say, that was a long time ago. Almost certainly not now.)

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any
similar XP version?
[]
I think what Ken and I mean is this: the CDs are not made individually -
they're mass-produced, much like audio CDs. (For a long time I've
wondered why they _don't_ make a CD with a tiny writable part, but they
don't.) [XP isn't different in this respect.] If you were to obtain two
CDs for the same product - two retail copies of XP, 98, Office, or
probably even Vista or 7 - then as long as they were _exactly_ the same
product (Home or Pro, retail or OEM, if OEM for the same batch of
hardware), then the same key would work with both - until you went
online to register the second one, at least. But it _would_ get you
through the installation process.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer
(1842-1914)

That IS what I'm saying - I can't be any clearer.

I had [have] copies of WinME, Win98se and WinNT4 and they come with keys (that work).

On entering other keys that I know work with other [respective] versions of each,
they simply do not work.

Why is this, if, as you two keep saying, XP can use *any* valid key for any
[sub-version] copy of Windows?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , Tim Meddick
writes:
(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98,
WinME and WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

In what sense was it "a valid key"? For what? (Though I do remember - a _long_ time
ago - finding that a key from one Microsoft product worked with another: I think
that might have been Windows 95 and Office 95. But as I say, that was a long time
ago. Almost certainly not now.)

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any similar XP
version?
[]
I think what Ken and I mean is this: the CDs are not made individually - they're
mass-produced, much like audio CDs. (For a long time I've wondered why they _don't_
make a CD with a tiny writable part, but they don't.) [XP isn't different in this
respect.] If you were to obtain two CDs for the same product - two retail copies of
XP, 98, Office, or probably even Vista or 7 - then as long as they were _exactly_
the same product (Home or Pro, retail or OEM, if OEM for the same batch of
hardware), then the same key would work with both - until you went online to
register the second one, at least. But it _would_ get you through the installation
process.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer
(1842-1914)

That IS what I'm saying - I can't be any clearer.

I had [have] copies of WinME, Win98se and WinNT4 and they come with keys (that work).

On entering other keys that I know work with other [respective] versions of each,
they simply do not work.

Why is this, if, as you two keep saying, XP can use *any* valid key for any
[sub-version] copy of Windows?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , Tim Meddick
writes:
(To others who generously thought I meant something else - I didn't - sorry)

Well, I tried entering a valid key into (all non-OEM) copies of Win98,
WinME and WinNT4 and none of those ever worked!!

In what sense was it "a valid key"? For what? (Though I do remember - a _long_ time
ago - finding that a key from one Microsoft product worked with another: I think
that might have been Windows 95 and Office 95. But as I say, that was a long time
ago. Almost certainly not now.)

What makes XP so different that it will accept unique keys from any similar XP
version?
[]
I think what Ken and I mean is this: the CDs are not made individually - they're
mass-produced, much like audio CDs. (For a long time I've wondered why they _don't_
make a CD with a tiny writable part, but they don't.) [XP isn't different in this
respect.] If you were to obtain two CDs for the same product - two retail copies of
XP, 98, Office, or probably even Vista or 7 - then as long as they were _exactly_
the same product (Home or Pro, retail or OEM, if OEM for the same batch of
hardware), then the same key would work with both - until you went online to
register the second one, at least. But it _would_ get you through the installation
process.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-3.tif (2-sheet TIFF)!

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer
(1842-1914)