Where can i find a Windows XP operating system disk for free? please read the rest before you judge.?

my laptop crashed and i have to have the entire system wiped completely clean and have everything re-installed. so basically my laptop will lose everything and it will be like it was new. the problem is i was told that these disks cost major money and i am a college student. i have absolutely no money whatsoever. and i mean that quite literally. no cash and no money in my bank account. as i said before im a college student and really need my laptop but i have no money. does anyone know of anything i can do to get a operating system disk for free? im really in a bind right now.

Discs are generally free or shipping/handling. It's the Setup key that costs big bucks. Yours is probably on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop.

See if you can borrow a MS retail disc. OEM discs tend to have a restore program only that includes specific video drivers, etc. You will also want to find the drivers your laptop needs on the OEM's Internet site.

As long as you have the CD-Key for Windows XP, I would say download it via torrent or get a copy from someone else.

http://www.utorrent.com/
best torrent downloader in my opinion

My university offers it for free for to download for students through a program they have with Microsoft. Check your university. But I don't need it on my laptop, because it comes up with system recovery built into the laptop. You just have to enter the BIOS and restore from there. No disk needed. I don't know if this is a common feature on laptops or not. How old is the laptop? It should have came with a disk to restore if it doesn't have that built in restore feature. Read your user manual. It'll give you instructions on how to restore your laptop.