David B. wrote:
> Your product key problems were nothing to do with Sony, it was because
> the product key on the sticker was for an OEM version of Windows XP
> (likely home or pro edition) and you were using retail CD's, except for
> Media Center, which is OEM, but the key was likely not for Media Center.
> It may be frustrating, but don't blame your lack of knowledge on Sony.
> All laptops are proprietary, have been for yeas and years.
>
No Sir. These were OEM disks for builders multi licensing. As long as
you had a key should have been in bidness. This machine had been munged
before, and Lord only knows what the sticker on the case belonged to.
This was a Vaio desktop, not laptop, but that would make no difference.
To get it up and running I used my own key, connected to Sony's website,
then after I'd ordered the disk, did a clean install with the
proprietary disk.
Always enjoy a challenge, but this one was a bugger. Should have
figured as much though, knowing how well Dell likes it's reinstall disks.
I think a lot of it was like you say, lack of product knowledge and all
the proprietary drivers Sony had. But ain't gonna do it again.