will any XP Home CD work to reformat another XP Home computer? Say if I have a Gateway XP Home CD.....will that work to reformat an HP XP Home computer as long as I have that other computer's product key?

And if it doesn't work initally through internet registration, can't I get an override code by calling Microsoft registration? Thanks!

If it was a Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Home CD, then it would work on any computer, but obviously you would need the product key for each.

However, I think it is going to be a restore CD, as is most often the case, and this will only work with the computer that it was supplied with, (although there was once a similar topic on here where someone claimed they had used their restore CD on their girlfriends computer, or something like that and it had worked).

With a restore CD you are just accessing a partitioned section of the hard drive where the Windows installation files are stored.

I have used a XP Pro disk that came with a Dell to reformat a HP without any problems. The disk had Dell's name on it but it was basically a XP without any third party software, not what I would consider a restore disk. After the install, it ask if I would like to activate XP. When I clicked yes, it went on line and activated without asking for a computer product key, disk key, or anything else.
If you have a single Gateway XP disk, it is most likely basic XP. All the "restore" disks I've seen came in sets of at least 3. When I made a set of restore disks for my HP, from the restore partition, it took 9 CDs.

That would be what dvds are for.


Seriously though my compaq(which is basically an HP) came with a restore partition, restore discs, and a restore disc creator. I figure if something messes up my pc that I'm pretty much covered.

Yep, wish I had a DVD burner on this thing when I made the restore disks. It took me 2 hours to burn all dem CDs.