"cquirke (MVP Win9x)" said in
Then say goodbye to security. No permissions. No EFS.
Less unrecoverable data loss. No entrenched malware.
It's a deal
The difference between OEM and retail versions is the license and the
OEM forces a full install instead of an upgrade. Otherwise, the rest is
the same. You DO have recovery console with the OEM version.
Varies; what you describe is the DSP CDs I build with. Some, but not
all, OEM CDs are identical to the DSP (DSP = Delivery Service Partner,
i.e. small-scale OEM that uses off-the-peg DSP CDs), though they may
say OEM instead of DSP and have the OEM's name on them (e.g. "to be
sold only with a new BIGBUCKET system" rather than "to be sold only
with a new system").
But large OEMs can, and do, negotiate the right to roll their own CDs.
As long as MS gets the money, they don't really care what is (not) on
the CD unless the OEM starts putting rival software in there.
Typically these sort of OEM CDs aren't capable of controlled
installation at all. They may only offer an "instant restore" that
splats the whole system back to one big C:, all your apps and data
gone, etc. There may be OEM's "value add" on there, e.g. not their
device drivers but also bundleware, tutorials etc. To make space,
some Windows components may get thrown overboard, e.g. Backup,
Recovery Console and so on.
But that's not all; you can get even less - say, no installation CD at
all. You lose your HD's bootability; ship the PC back to the factory
or authorised monkey cage, and they will wipe your HD and redo their
factory set up. When that's the only "support" you offer, it's
amazing how quiet the phone lines are
OEM is cheaper than DSP. These sharky cut-down and stunted variants
are likely to cost even less, and not only because of the bulk they
are ordered in. An "instant restore" CD that works only with one
OEM's proprietary system is less likely to get warez'd out.
As opposed to blindly letting other utilities do it for you on a
FAT12/16/32 partition.
Nope; you have a choice there. You can, and IMO should, go
interactive - so that you at least know what you are saying yes to!
There's everything from "trust me, I'll fix this" to "show me what you
want to do first, and *ask* if you may do that" to "skip the
editorial, just show me the bytes and let me get on with it"
In NTFS, there's a choice of ChkDsk and that's it.
Not many users are adept at using disk editors so they can
edit or move sectors.
No, but their techs can help. MS's WinPE builder is a useful tool for
such techs, but it's restricted only to those large OEMs who aren't
going to bother with data recovery anyway.
You need to get a more modern anti-virus program. Obviously you only
use one that can only perform disaster recovery through a manually
initiated or scheduled scan rather than dynamically monitor for inbound
viruses to eliminate them from ever getting into your box in the first
place.
No, I don't. My front line av is indeed Windows based (it's AVG), but
I never assume it can't be broached. When that happens, that's when I
go formal. Think of Windows-based av as like burglar bars; they are a
convienient way of screening out malware.
When they fail, i.e. when you come home to a broken front door or
window, and see flickering torches inside - that's when you need a
more hard-core, formal solution.
The word ACTIVE is in there for a reason. Malware that hasn't run yet
is not active, and is fair game for frontier (Windows-based) av. In a
perfect world, that would be the only av you need, because it would
never be beaten. But in real life, etc.
-- Risk Management is the clue that asks:
"Why do I keep open buckets of petrol next to all the
ashtrays in the lounge, when I don't even have a car?"
