New PC & OS Disc

[VCDHunter]

Does anyone know the deal with buying a new PC with an OS installed but NOT getting the OS on a CD ? I ask because a colleague has bought a PC from Time without an OS disc and they have asked him for £50 for a CD. I argue that he must have already bought this for it to be installed on the PC OR Time are shipping PCs with pirate versions of software !!

Anyone know the answer to this ?

[stiltman]

I know Dell doesn't ship the OS CD anymore. They ship a recovery CD with the OS preconfigured for that pc model. In most cases the files are somewhere on the HDD and can be burned to a bootable CD.

[Reaper88]

Alot of companies now a days dont give you a cd. They put all the info on a partion on the hard disk. So you can just re-install with the push of a button.

[g_shocker182]

I know Dell doesn't ship the OS CD anymore. They ship a recovery CD with the OS preconfigured for that pc model. In most cases the files are somewhere on the HDD and can be burned to a bootable CD.

DUDE, I got one of those with my DELL.

[indolikaa]

In my previous experiences, your argument is correct. They owe him the means with which to restore his system. That means either a System Restore routine and/or the original OS on disc.

And if the method of restoration is via a Windows CD, they CANNOT charge him for that disc. They can charge him for a System Restore CD, however.

[gmatov]

It would behoove any one who has bought such a machine to burn those files to CD as soon as possible.

You never know when you will get a crash, and if you should format, which seems to be one of the first pieces of advice you get here, you may wipe your files.

Then, you're going to pay the 50 for the disks anyhow.

Those files have been created to install only on that specific brand of PC, with a BIOS check. If your machine doesn't boot with a Gateway logo, for instance, you will get a blurb that they only work with a Gateway machine, you can't use them on another brand, or a non-branded.

This is, BTW, why you always found MS disks at shows and the like, at a relatively low price. The OEMs buy 10000 licenses, get 10000 disks, clone 10000 drives, and wind up with 10000 disks cluttering up the joint. Either they remaindered the disks to someone, or scrapped them, or they were pilfered, MS really didn't care, as if you had a valid install code, you were eligible for updates, etc.

One other thing, and I hope this is not a hijack, but are you guys aware that the cloned disks in these machines usually have every piece of hardware that that company might use in that line installed?

Boot into Safe Mode and check Device Manager, you may find you have 4 CD burners installed, and other things. Most help files will tell you to do so and remove the other devices if you have a problem/conflict.

Wow, all this just to post my first comment above.

[Faustus]

The OEM purchased one license for your machine, the copy on the restore disc counts. So thats all you got.

Yet another reason Apples rock, access to your software.

[gmatov]

Flaystus,

That's basically what I am saying. You got a restore disk, or a restore file on the machine, which, BTW answers some of the people who have written questioning why they have a gig or 2 of FAT32 on their NTFS drives.

I don't think ANY of the upgrade disks have been offered in NTFS, as FAT32 will not read them, so you would not be able to go from 98-ME to W2k-XP from that disk.

However, the 10000, etc, is true, as is simply evidenced by the fact you do not have to enter an install code when restoring. Of course, you will not use the disk on a non-that brand machine..

This goes back to the days of 95B or C, C, I think, which was the first with FAT32. MS explicitly said, and I do have, but will have to find, the printout that says MS will grant that you have a valid copy if you have the install code.

At that time, if you recall, you could only buy 95C with a new machine or a new MB, or a new HDD. Package deal was the only legal way.

But, the show people DID sell the 9999 actual copies that the OEMs had to either store or remainder out of their warehouses, or, possibly, were stolen.

I don't know how an employee steals a truckload of CDs, but it is possible. You would, however, think someone would catch them.

Cheers,

George