I have purchased a second hand computer which has xp loaded on it but it did not come with an xp disc. I want to transfer the required files from this computer to make a bootable disc so that I can re-install if it is required later.
Thanks

If you are looking to make an XP OS bootable disc to transfer the OS to another computer then it can't be done - you need the XP CD that came with the system. Another option is to just transfer the hard drive to the other system but that may have other issues related to a Registry that is built on different hardware.

What you can do is backup your old files (the ones that you need), reinstall Windows XP from scratch, and then put your old files back on there. Use the old Windows key to re-install windows. You can get at that using this utility http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Casey

You may not have a legal version of XP. If the seller kept the XP CD and installed it on a new PC, then you might run into activation problems in the future.

If you want to preserve the drive for resotration, I would suggest a utility like Norton Ghost. Ghost will create an EXACT clone of your drive onto other media (CD, DVD, external drive). You can create a bootable disk with Ghost that will allow you to restore the cloned image.