Getting a legit copy of windows

[Mascarpone]

Hello guys,

I've a little problem: i have a legit OEM key (shipped with my notebook) but i don't have a legit copy of windows xp, since I purged windows from all my computer 6 years ago, and on this there was no recovery cd, but just a 4 gb recovery partition.

How could I get a legit copy of windows xp? Unfortunately Microsoft doesn't ship copy of the cd to my country (italy), so all i can do is to illegaly download it. But how can I be sure that I won't download a copy with a virus in it? How can i scan a cd for virus from linux?


I apologize if these questions seems noobish but I haven't been using windows since ME.

 

[Raduque]

You can ask your computer maker to send you a disk. They'll probably send you it for shipping charges.

Most of the, um, less savory areas of the web might have specific OEM isos available - you'll be rolling the dice when you download one, though.

 

[blackangst1]

I know there is a download directly from microsoft somewhere...might want to poke around on their site. Or, as previously mentioned, request an install disk from the original manufacturer. From some place like softpedia, it will include hashes which you can compare against Microsft's hashes to verify its a legit download/copy.

 

[RebateMonger]

Did you delete the XP System Recovery Partition?