windows xp Help! Trying to resurrect a really goofed up computer

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As you can tell from my screen name, I'm a Quaker and we don't celebrate holidays because no day is any more holy than any other. So instead I devote the day to service by doing a major good deed. My good deed for today is to take this old computer that's

been passed around among a set of elderly sisters, clean it up, and give it back to her. My labor is my gift to her.

But I'm stuck. I've got it running, checked it out, removed some unneccessary programs and hardware, and got it connected to the internet. But now I'm stuck.

Someone has moved the original hard drive (orignally C:, now F:), installed a new bigger HD, and then restored Windows XP Home Version to the brand-new C: drive. Howsomever, when I try to run Microsoft Update, it complains that I need to update Windows

Update. When I try to do that, I get an error message that the update log is not in the expected location. I can't find the old log on the old drive, because I don't know what the file name is supposed to be. There IS a log of automatic updates going all

the way back to 2009 (no, I'm not joking), all of which have failed with the same error message.

So, what I need to know is how to get around this. I need to find, first, the original license file on the old hard drive, the one with the registration key, and move it to its proper location. Next, I need to either find the old log on the old drive and

move it to the new drive, or to recreate it.

I'm hoping that some super-expert out there is willing to help me with this good deed, as his/her good deed for Thanksgiving, so if someone out there is willing to devote a little time instead of watching football today, would you please reply soon. I really

need to get this machine updated, so I can start stripping the built-up garbage.

Please?

 

Judy in Idaho Falls

 

 

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