haha......... I thought I might get some better answers but I'll do it the
long way.
I've got ...
XP Pro disk
XP Home disk
XP Pro VLK disk
Windows 2000 disk
so........ I'll just start installing one at a time until that key works in
it.
I WILL come back & let you know.
I'm not even going to answer some of those replies.
It was an ex-business computer that had zero's overwritten.
Thanks.




"VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
news:h2lv79$pfk$1@news.albasani.net...
> Bruce--M wrote:
>
>> I bought a 2nd hand computer recently & it looks like the LEGAL product
>> key
>> has been cleaned with some solvent.
>> I can very clearly see the full code.
>> The HD was formatted.
>> I CAN NOT read if it's XP Home, XP Pro or even Windows 2000.
>> Is there some way I can find out?
>> The key starts with ........
>> HDBY3-H3X49-49PWX- etc
>
> If the restore image for the OS was in a hidden partition, is it still
> there? Formatting works on partition boundaries, not across the entire
> hard disk. So it is possible the hidden partition is still there. You
> will need to follow the instructions for the computer to find out how
> the OS gets installed.
>
> If a restore image is not in a hidden partition, and if the seller did
> not surrender the installation media, then the OS was *not* included in
> the sale. What you bought was just hardware. So now you'll have to buy
> Windows (or use a free Linux variant).