[BC] Windows XP Question

[Jeff Glass]

Hello:

I've had but one or two opportunities to reinstall windows XP.

I have several Dell laptops that I bought off Ebay; some of them had XP
home, which I downgraded to 2000, some of them have XP Pro. None of the Dell's
have a COS sticker, or their own O/S install disk.

If I were to buy XP from Ebay, what do I need to make sue I get with the
media disk to be sure I can install it on one of my Dell laptops?

The two or three times I've reinstalled the Win XP O/S on a Dell computer,
I've never been prompted to activate it. Both times however, I had the Dell
O/S reinstallation CD. I'm not sure I understand why activation was needed
in these cases.

Jeff Glass