Laptop OS questions

[caernavon]

It's been a while since I last bought a laptop (it had Win98 installed, if that gives you a clue), and the most annoying thing about it was that it came with no OS install disc; just a bunch of .cab files in a separate partition. It was easy enough to get them off and make an install disc once I figured things out, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a pain in the behind.

Are laptops still like that? Are they shipping with OS install discs (as they should), are they hiding the install files on a separate partition, or is it even worse these days?

[Nelson37]

Depends on the retailer, this issue is not specific to, nor related in any way, to laptops. You should get the disk.

[ROF]

Very few pre-built systems include discs today, except for additional software that isn't installed. Most pre-builts include a separate partition on the primary drive(hard drive) that contains cabinet files, restore files, or disc images.

It would be very rare to find a pre-built system that includes those discs. I build systems for a living and I add $80 to any given system so people can retain original backups of their OS*. I feel it's quite a rip off what some of these companies charge and then they skimp on a very important software element to a new system.

*Floppy Boot Disc included.

[LloydAZ]

I bought a Dell in November, and I had to pay an extra $10 for the backup OS disc. It was worth the money and the hassle for me.

[caernavon]

Sounds like things haven't changed very much. That's too bad. I might be getting myself a laptop soon; looks like I might be making myself another set of install discs. At least I know how to do it, unlike probably 99% of the buyers out there.

[edDV]

Just ask before you buy. Make it a requirement.

If you get the business model, they will probably give you the CD discs.

[dipstick]

I bought my Compaq Laptop about 6 months ago and it came with an OS install disk along with a disk for all the drivers and software. No extra charge.

I actually Reformated and installed the OS just after I bought it, because I didn't want all the crap that came with the system.

[Dr_Layne]

My Toshiba laptop came wiht a back up disc. An Acer I bought for my mother required you to burn a back up disc set during the initial set up of the laptop.

[lacywest]

I bought the Dell 5150 the summer of 2004 ... and it is my work horse during my hours at work and it came with WinXP on a spare disk.

I bought two Dell Inspiron 2200 Laptops last November 2005 and they came with the spare WinXP disk.

On Black Friday 2005 ... I went and bought the HP laptop Walmart sold for $378 and on Ebay I bought the same laptop but this one had a 60 gig hard drive instead of a 40 gig hard drive.

All of them came with the WinXP disk and a applications/Driver disk.

I reformated all the drives on all of them and re-installed WinXP without all the extra bull shit.

They all work just fine connected to an external USB 2.0 DVD Burner and to my external USB 2.0 hard drives ... 160 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB and 300 GB hard drives and the slow hours ... I burn DVD videos.

Most of the time ... it is my Dell 5150 connected to everything I just mentioned to a 7 port USB 2.0 Hub ... all at the same time. No problems occur at all ... really ... no BS .... about 900 gigs connected by USB 2.0 cables ... WHOA !!!

[whitejremiah]

do i smell an electrical fire? no, just kidding....if your pc does come with cab files or some such junk, and a restore prograram that allows you to burn the cab files directly to bootable cd, i'd recommend doing that........if it comes with a windows disc, i'd recommend making a backup copy of that, too...either way, make sure to keep your system restoring stuff in a VERY safe place....most these days will have either a windows disc, or a restore disc, or the programs needed to make them with a few blank cdr included right on the computer itself....i helped my mother in law out with a new computer not that long ago, and the computer had basically like a relabeled version of norton ghost (okay, probably not exactly the same, but you get the idea) installed and a disc image of the OEM garbage......it wouldnt even LET you directly access that partition unless you used the program....basically since the pc came with a dvd burner, it gave you the option to burn it to cdr or dvdr.........so no, it's not QUITE as archaic as it was back in the win9x days.........

[caernavon]

Okay, this is some promising news. Things are looking up. Thanks, everyone.

[lacywest]

Okay, this is some promising news. Things are looking up. Thanks, everyone.

Yep ... anytime ... we are here to help other people