John wrote:
My son has a Dell Dimension 8100 that I purchased about 3
yrs ago. Also purchased the MS Office XP Professional.
This past semester he either lost or had his CDs stolen.
Dell advised me that they do not have a "CD replacement"
policy...not even for a fee. I called MS and they have
a "CD replacement" for the CDs if they are purchased from
anyone but the manufacturers. MS suggested that I have
Dell send me a copy of the CDs or make copies from
someone else. MS stated that I could still use my product
key #. This is outrageous! Can anyone please help me? Any
suggestions? I have already spent around $300 for the
software...don't feel like I should have to spend another
$300 or so. Thanks in advance.

I'm sorry but, as it's OEM, *all* support, including replacement keys and
media is the responsibility of the vendor and/or manufacturer. MS cannot,
does not and will not assist with OEM-supplied software.

They are, however, incorrect on one point; your son's key will *NOT* work
with a copy of someone else's XP Pro - even if it's OEM. Dell ties their
keys to the system the software was shipped with.

If you really can't get any joy from Dell you may not have any choice but to
purchase it again, though XP is no longer sold. If your son's system isn't
running a 2003-compatible OS (2000 SP3+, XP or 2003) then you may have to
trawl eBay for a copy of XP.