I had a virus on my laptop, so I took it to someone to fix. Well when I got it back it had LINUS on it. I have never EVEN heard of Linux before. The guy said because I didn't have my xp cd or restore cd that is all he could do. He gave me some websites to visit for new Linux users. Way over my heard I just want XP back. Is it to late? Can I just uninstal Linux and reinstall XP. Please help!

Thank you!if you have not got a Windows install CD or a recovery CD from your laptop maker you will have to buy one. Unless the laptop has a recovery partition. What make and model is it?

Either what SalmonTrout suggested or you'll have to learn Linux. I use Linux all the time, it isn't too hard to learn at all if your using Ubuntu or something like it.

But still it does take some learning, and it depends whether you'd rather take the time to learn Linux or pay ROUGHLY $100 dollars to get a new copy of Windows XP.  you can do one thing get a bootable disk from friend and you can make bootable flash drive from it.

You will need windows computer and Win to flash software and XP bootable Cd. That's all.

Run the software make bootable flash drive. And connect the flash drive and restart your computer in USB harddisk. and it will install it for you.Laptops are almost always sold with a Microsoft Operation system. Look under the laptop and find the Microsoft sticker. If it has it, you are entailed to the Windows XP that works on that machine and you do not need to pay anything for it. The technician who fixed your PC should have done that for you. What he did puts Linux in a bad light.

Does the Linux work good enough to do a down load from the Internet? You can download a ISO of the original CD used to install XP on that brand of laptop. Was it a Dell? The product key on the bottom of the laptop makes it legal.

dell windows xp sp3 oem iso

The above exact phrase will bring seven or more  sites in a Google search for exact phrase with keyword download also in context.

Note: It is not legal if you do not have a product key or if it is not a Dell.
In fact, it will only work on a Dell.

EDIT: Only one of the seven work. Alter the search parameters and find more.
Quote from: Geek-9pm on April 18, 2011, 07:29:19 AM

Note: It is not legal if you do not have a product key or if it is not a Dell.
In fact, it will only work on a Dell.

the only "legal" way of getting a windows XP install cd is to buy one, downloading ISO's is a violation of MS's distribution policy. Either way, the practice of downloading iso's is looked down upon because most of them are modded/preactivated with cracks and patches and are used by pirates to illegally install and activate windows.

Better solution would be to contact dell and get the appropriate Recovery disks for the machine. And no, isohunt, torrentz, thepiratebay, and most of the other results from the google query you provide for some reason are what anybody would call a reliable source. For this.

actually it is legal to download certain OEM isos , at least it was when i checked, but there are only a couple and you have to specify details before you can download