I bought a used pc its a dell dimensions e520 running windows xp pro.now heres my question -problem according to the service tag and the windows authenticity sticker it came with windows vista home.this i learned from dell when i upgraded ram.im thinkin why would someone do a downgrade its like a reverse migrate.or maybe not i not sure i went to system properties and the edition i have is windows DLCXP MEDIA CENTER 2010 ULTIMATE EDITION cpu 2.80GHZ. has anyone heard of this,i havent and is this edition better than vista home.im not sure CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS THANK YOU.

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I agree with both responses above, so I'm not going to repeat what they have already written but instead mention something left out.

Dell generally doesn't ship the operating system CD with it's PC's as they have a Partition on the HD for performing restores. You may still have that partition, though it's unlikely as the previous user probably repartitioned the drive and wiped it out.

If that's the case, you can always use Dell's support site which you're already familiar with and request an operating system CD. I believe the cost is around $10 total including shipping. As I haven't done this in a while, I believe they will require your Asset Tag # and a credit card to make the purchase. Additionally, you will want to request the CD(s) that had the other third party (McAfee, Norton, DVD sw, Video Driver, etc) programs/drivers that were originally installed to that system.

The DLC version of Windows XP Media Center is a pirated copy and is not supported by Microsoft. It was likely obtained from a WAREZ site and as such cannot be supported. If you do not have the original CD's that came with your computer, you will have to purchase a full retail version of the operating system from Dell, Microsoft, or wherever you choose. The version currently in place, likely cannot receive security updates from Microsoft and that presents some serious concerns for remaining virus free. Another option is to simply leave the Microsoft world and install Linux Ubuntu or similar Linux OS... Very simple to do, very easy to use, virus free and rock solid fast. Does not support Windows Apps, Itunes or other proprietary windows software, but if your computing needs revolve around the web, email, office productivity, then Linux is a great choice and its FREE and does not suffer from virus issues like windows. www.ubuntu.com is worth a look...

Hi,
There are two resons , why people tend to do the same.

1. The orginal user might have had applications or programs that were compatible with windows XP pro and not with windows vista basic.

2. The windows XP pro, is better that windows vista home , as professional is made ,to join a group of computers together over a network like an office , windows vista is not.

3. windows XP pro requires less system resorces as a result better speed on the tasks

For more on the same


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Porton