me source files from internet?

[jason]

quick question: i have a friend who lost his original
cd. his box is on the fritz. i managed to extract the
productkey out of the registry. this is a legally
purchased copy but i need to rebuild it. i don't have a
copy of ME myself. i don't have tiime to wait for a
replacement cd. am i still in legal bounds if i
retrieved the source files from a friend or over the net
and still used a legal product key?

i pay for EVERYTHING and am pretty hard core about
letting others use my stuff so i'm not out to cheat MS.
i'm looking at a fast, legal solution.

[Rick T]

jason wrote:

> quick question: i have a friend who lost his original
> cd. his box is on the fritz. i managed to extract the
> productkey out of the registry. this is a legally
> purchased copy but i need to rebuild it. i don't have a
> copy of ME myself. i don't have tiime to wait for a
> replacement cd. am i still in legal bounds if i
> retrieved the source files from a friend or over the net
> and still used a legal product key?
>
> i pay for EVERYTHING and am pretty hard core about
> letting others use my stuff so i'm not out to cheat MS.
> i'm looking at a fast, legal solution.

I don't think anybody's going to mind (or notice) if you use a DL'd copy
of WinME til you can get the replacement CD, but be aware that there is
no "legal download" center and that the stuff you get from "Hackz'R'Us"
will rarely if ever be what you want.

What do you mean by "on the fritz" ?


Rick

[jason]

>What do you mean by "on the fritz" ?

his box took a power-hit i think. i replaced the power
supply and then examined the hard-drive which had so many
errors that chkdsk was hanging up. the box could be
beyond help. it was left in the closet for a year or
so . . . etc. BUT, i think there's still hope. thanks
for your input.

[Ron Martell]

"jason" > wrote:

>quick question: i have a friend who lost his original
>cd. his box is on the fritz. i managed to extract the
>productkey out of the registry. this is a legally
>purchased copy but i need to rebuild it. i don't have a
>copy of ME myself. i don't have tiime to wait for a
>replacement cd. am i still in legal bounds if i
>retrieved the source files from a friend or over the net
>and still used a legal product key?
>
>i pay for EVERYTHING and am pretty hard core about
>letting others use my stuff so i'm not out to cheat MS.
>i'm looking at a fast, legal solution.

Please note that the product keys for Windows Me are version specific.
An OEM product key will not work for installing a Retail Upgrade
version, and vice versa.

There are at least 4 different versions of WindowsMe from this
perspective:
- Retail Upgrade
- Retail Full Install
- OEM (many custom variations from different manufacturers)
- Volume license

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[Rick T]

jason wrote:

>
>>What do you mean by "on the fritz" ?
>
>
> his box took a power-hit i think. i replaced the power
> supply and then examined the hard-drive which had so many
> errors that chkdsk was hanging up. the box could be
> beyond help. it was left in the closet for a year or
> so . . . etc. BUT, i think there's still hope. thanks
> for your input.

Good luck with it, though as I said, I'm not aware of any download
locations for Windows-ME (and none that I'd particularly trust if I was).

If he (or you) are selling it, then you should either provide the buyer
with some sort of WinME install media (heck, you have a license; why not
use it), or sell "as is" with no OS; just run the hard-disk
manufacturer's utility program over the HD to make sure it hasn't been
physically damaged, then format.

Rick