XP Media Centre Edition 2005. Dell Machine

[#1]

I need to reinstall XP MCE on a friends Dell Dimension 3100. He has no discs and there is no image partition on the drive. There probably was a disc at some stage.
How can I get my hands on a copy that will accept his product key? I have went round in circles on the Dell Website. I have tried another copy but it wouldn't work with the key. Does this have to be a Dell specific disc?

[#2]

Hi Sean
Is the disk you are trying to install from issued by another OEM or is it just a generic OEM install CD? (IIRC you couldn't buy retail versions of Media Center)

[#3]

The Dell disks usually do not require you to enter the key, but they will only work on a Dell machine.  If you try one on another machine it goes right to the end of the install and then asks for a key.  I don't have an MCE disk unfortunately.

[#4]

Give MS support a call and tell them the problem?
Try installing with the key on the disc you have got. MS only keep the activation information for about 30 days (if I recall correctly) so it will probably work if the disk hasn't been used in the last month or so. This is probably stretching the boundaries of MS's licensing, but you have got a licence, and they're very fond of telling us that we don't actually own the software, only a licence.
In any event Microsoft are convicted software pirates, so you don't need to take them too seriously!
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2118681/microsoft-convicted-software-piracy
Regards,
Neil