Downgrade to xp media center edition 2005 without cd

[chr630oha]

Hello,
I have an HP Pavillion that had Windows Xp Media Ctr edition 2005 as its original windows software but sometime after purchase I reformatted hard drive and installed Vista Business. I want to reinstall the original factory xp but I don't have a CD. I have the original product key. Can this be done?

 

[WyomingKnott]

1) Contact HP.
2) If that fails, contact Microsoft. "I have an OEM licensed machine and the product key but no CD. Can I get the distro?"
3) You can always get a distro off the net, but I wouldn't for two reasons. First, it is likely to be a pirate site. Second, if I wanted to distribute malware, a pre-infected version of the OS install would be a good vehicle.

Is it possible that your machine has a hidden partition with everything needed to do a factory reset? Can you look in Disk Management and see if there is a hidden partition? Sometimes HP and other mfgs do this.