Need copy of Dell branded MCE2005 disc.. Can anyone help?

Hi,

I posted this question before, but a few weeks ago, i still hoped Dell would
help me out in the end.

As posted before, ordered a Dimension 8400 with MCE2005 in October. It
worked great, however after a few months i decided i would do a fresh
install to get rid of all the Dell stuff.
Then i found out, about 40% of the Dutch Dell version of MCE2005 was
unreadible..
I tried cleaning the disc, recovering the data with isobuster, other data
recovery tools and even 2 computer shops tried to help me out. In the end,
it was impossible to get a working disc.
I tried the dvd-rom reader of my own 2 machines, and the systems they had in
those shops..

I've called and emailed Dell for a replacement disc for about 8 weeks or
more, but they refused to send me one. They didn't really explained why,
until monday about 2 weeks ago.
Dell claims i had to send the software back within 30 days after the systems
arrival, however it was working fine then..
One of the reasons that i did a fresh install, was because i bought a new tv
tuner (Hauppauge PVR500 MCE)
They also told me, they dropped MCE2005 from the site (which i verified),
because only a few people in Holland ordered it.

So, it's impossible to get any support from Dell, i guess.. (It sucks,
because i paid for it)

That's the reason i tried posting on this group and the Dell forums, the
largest Dell userbases i could think of..

If there's any chance finding a Dell owner with a Dell branded copy of
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, i guess it's here..

So, since Dell isn't helping, i'm still hoping a Dell MCE2005 owner is
willing to help..

What i need is a copy of the Dell branded version of MCE2005 to get my Dell
key and licence working.. (At the moment, i don't care if it's Dutch,
English or another language)
Microsoft Support told me a few weeks ago, that if i have original disc,
cdkey and licence, i can use any Dell branded MCE2005 copy.. Doesn't matter
if it's original, a copy or a downloaded version.

I'm willing to pay a small fee to anyone, who could help me out uploading
the disc (i need the Dell copy) to my XDrive account, a newsgroup or
whatever.
I could also download it from an FTP server, if that's what you prefer.

My best option would be a full disc, so i can recreate the directory
structure, cdlabel, etc of the Dell disc..
But, i could work with about 13mb of needed files from the Dell MCE2005 disc
as well. (Since chances are small to obtain a Dutch copy)
I can use those files to change a regular OEM copy, to a Dell version that
doesn't need activation or a key.

So, i really hope someone could upload a copy of the dvd or those needed
files i specified below.

Thanks,

Allegro.

To upload the full disc or the 12mb of needed files -specified below- (and
maybe the content i'm missing), i can get it from FTP, or you can use any
binaries newsgroup or my
XDrive account:
http://plus.xdrive.com/u/112739331/716516443y8eBnVQtnLQ3YWUu5Ek
User:
Pass: upload

I can pay you a small fee with Paypal, or if someone makes a copy and sends
it
by regular mail, i can mail cash to you.

P.S: You can always just email me if you don't want to reply in this group.
P.S2: My copy of the Dell MCE disc (Dutch)
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/1228/dutchdellmce1bg.jpg (now it's even more
defective, tried to polish it..)

The files i need from the Dell labeled MCE2005 cd:

-------- The needed files ---------
In folder \I386:
DPCDLL.DL_
EULA.TXT
NT5INF.CA_
OEMBIOS.BI_
OEMBIOS.CA_
OEMBIOS.DA_
OEMBIOS.SI_
PIDGEN.DLL
SETUPP.INI
SETUPREG.HIV
UNATTEND.TXT
WINNT.SIF

In folder I386\WIN9XUPG:
WIN95UPG.INF

Then you could archive it with Winzip or WinRar.

You could create a batchfile that copies the needed files, from in my case
the G: drive (cd-rom) to the folder C:\XPbios.

Copy and paste this to a new txtfile (notepad) :

@ECHO OFF
:START
MKDIR C:\XPbios
MKDIR C:\XPbios\WIN9XUPG
COPY G:\I386\DPCDLL.DL_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\EULA.TXT "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\NT5INF.CA_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\OEMBIOS.BI_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\OEMBIOS.CA_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\OEMBIOS.DA_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\OEMBIOS.SI_ "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\PIDGEN.DLL "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\SETUPP.INI "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\SETUPREG.HIV "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\WIN9XUPG\WIN95UPG.INF "C:\XPbios\WIN9XUPG\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\UNATTEND.TXT "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V
COPY G:\I386\WINNT.SIF "C:\XPbios\" /Y /V

Save as for instance XPbios.bat -you may have to edit location of cd and
folder-, then save it and double cick it..

On C:\ there is a new folder created called XPbios with the needed files,
you can now use WinZip or WinRar and upload it to
http://plus.xdrive.com/u/112739331/716516443y8eBnVQtnLQ3YWUu5Ek

 

I thought you promised to stop posting this. I hate to say it, but I
don't think that anybody with this cd is going to send you the files.
Personally I don't know anybody even running MCE.

 

You have spent more effort begging for this software than
it would have been to just buy it. Please
stop posting this. If someone were going to
help you (and i WOULD...i just dont have this version of windows)
they would have done it by now.
Dave

 

....................................................................................
In point of fact, I do NOT believe that Dell will sell another copy.
This is because Dell pays so little for the license and the specifics
of the agreement with MS.
The retail CD of MCE one could buy would not be the same.
It would NOT have the recovery / restore info.
In addition the retail version will require activation.
This would not be a major issue until the day MS stops
support/activation of this version. This will never happen with the
Dell version of MCE or other WinXp.
This issue of stopping support of an OS is something that people seem
to be ignoring. It is insignificant with versions of windows that do
not require activation. But with activation only versions it will not
be possible to relagate this CD / license to a secondary computer.