Question on license and activation code re:Reinstall

[Bruce Chambers]

I've used Dell CDs to reinstall the O/S on other brands and using the CD
Key on the sticker on the case had no problem at all activating.

Bob

Dell's early CDs worked like that, but not anymore.


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Bruce Chambers

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[noel.wester]

I can be back up and running in less than fifteen minutes. Imaging
software makes it simple. Just make an image after the original
installation of your OS AND apps. Faster, better, and easier than a dirty
reinstall.

Yep, another vote here for the imaging approach.

I use BootItNG

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html

and make an image once the original installation is completed; I don't
think my Win XP CD has been out of its jewel case for about two years.

 

[Sparky Spartacus]

Whoever gave you that recommendation (clean install every year) is
totally out to lunch. I would be very suspicious about any and all
advice coming from such an ill-informed source.

The last time I did a clean install on my personal system was in 1993
with MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows For Workgroups 3.11 on an 80386SX
machine. Everything since then has been done as an upgrade,
including multiple changes of motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive,
CD/DVD, Computer case, Power Supply, etc. etc.



Dell OEM versions of Windows XP are BIOS Locked to the Dell
motherboard BIOS and are self-activating when installed on computers
with such a motherboard.

That is almost completely untrue - the part about self-activating if
installed on a Dell system is true. I've used my Dell XP Pro CD to
install Windows on my Thinkpad and it worked just fine, although I did
have to enter the COA for the TP when we got to that part.

 

[Sparky Spartacus]

Dell's early CDs worked like that, but not anymore.

How "not anymore" do you mean?

 

[Tom Scales]

How "not anymore" do you mean?

Still worked fine on a CD I received just a few months ago. I believe it
still does

 

[Bob Levine]

Dell's early CDs worked like that, but not anymore.

All I can I say is that what from I've seen in this thread you've got a
lot of nerve to question any other IT professionals. You don't know what
you're talking about.

Bob

 

[Bob Levine]

Why not back up your arrogant statement with an explanation of what YOU do to
maintain a system "properly"? ... Ben Myers

He never uses it. <g>

Bob

 

[Leythos]

How "not anymore" do you mean?

All of the latest (last two years) Dell XP Cd's I've seen are re-
silkscreened CD's that are just normal XP install cd's nothing bios
locked or anything else.

 

[optech290]

Dell OEM versions of Windows XP are BIOS Locked to the Dell
motherboard BIOS and are self-activating when installed on computers
with such a motherboard. They cannot be activated on a computer with
any other motherboard.

Does the Dell utility recognize it and can you reload the OEM version if
you upgrade your BIOS using the Dell site BIOS upgrade for your system
before you create an OS disk?

No wonder everyone dreams of switching to Linux!

 

[optech290]

Last time I counted I had over 100 different application packages
installed on this machine.

It would take me several days of full time work to reinstall all of
these and reconfigure them, provided I could find the original CDs or
downloads for all of them.

After reformatting, I'm partitioning the hd so that there's a ghost
partition (and backup that to DVD) disks). I'm going to save the image of
the OS (with registry), MS office, and a few other programs that I use
alot. This will save me the trouble of loading them again (and I won't
have to start from scratch).

Just wondering - in the event of a hard drive failure (or total crash), if
you have a ghost image on DVD, would it be wise to have the same make and
model hard drive handy (or can you restore that ghosted image on another
drive - I'm assuming you can't).

 

[optech290]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in @p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

Yep, another vote here for the imaging approach.

I use BootItNG

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html

What do yo think of their free utility "Copywipe" for wiping the hard drive
clean before reformatting and partitioning?

I was thinking of doing a manual format and then partitioning.

 

[optech290]

I can name a half dozen, but they wouldn'd appreciate it, as they would
consider the information confidential.

It's good advice for a home system, particularly one where programs are
regularly installed and uninstalled.

Think of the average home with broadband and 2 or 3 computers hooked up to
a home network. Try to think of what sites teenagers are looking at much
of the day (and then what their fathers are surfing late in the evening!)

Then tell me that the registry is safe after two years! It would take Crap
Cleaner, Spy Sweeper, Ewido, Trend Micro, Ad-Aware, Kaspersky, NOD32,
Avast, AVG and 8 MS programmers to totally find all the wild registry
strings (and it still wouldn't be totally clean!).

How many families or home users do you think really understand all the
security programs or what's hidden in some questionable sites, let alone
use a good HOSTS file?
If you use Siteadvisor, the warnings that pop up are incredible.
Some sites that I thought were benign have links and possible redirects all
over the joint.

 

[optech290]

Whoever gave you that recommendation (clean install every year) is
totally out to lunch. I would be very suspicious about any and all
advice coming from such an ill-informed source.

The last time I did a clean install on my personal system was in 1993

You must live a very sheltered life and have never seen the body of nubile
young babe on your computer screen!

Are you some kind of monk? LOL


Any normal guy at work who pushes that Firefox or IE 6 icon will at some
point during a long workday find his mind wandering to some of the more
salicious sites. I've yet to find a top level exec at a business who
doesn't have hysterical cookies in his documentsandsettings\temp directory.

 

[Tom Scales]

All of the latest (last two years) Dell XP Cd's I've seen are re-
silkscreened CD's that are just normal XP install cd's nothing bios
locked or anything else.

Sure they are. By BIOS locked, they just mean you don't have to put a key
in at all!

Mine all are.

Tom

 

[noel.wester]

What do yo think of their free utility "Copywipe" for wiping the hard drive
clean before reformatting and partitioning?

I was thinking of doing a manual format and then partitioning.

Copywipe is good but it's definitely an overnight (and then some)
procedure.

For general home use it's only really necessary if (a) you've surfed
some dodgy sites that the law enforcement agencies might be interested
in or (b) if you're selling a drive on FleaBay or similar.

 

[Bob Levine]

Does the Dell utility recognize it and can you reload the OEM version if
you upgrade your BIOS using the Dell site BIOS upgrade for your system
before you create an OS disk?

I've used the same Dell CDs to load XP on countless numbers of machines.
The Dells don't require activation at all and the others activate fine
using the CD Key on the machine. BTW, just to avoid any thought of
improper use, all of the machines are fully licesnsed to use XP.

Bob

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I've used the same Dell CDs to load XP on countless numbers of machines.
The Dells don't require activation at all ....

You mean when installed on Dell computers, don't you?

... and the others activate fine
using the CD Key on the machine. BTW, just to avoid any thought of
improper use, all of the machines are fully licesnsed to use XP.

Bob

Where (as in country) or how (special purchasing agreement, perhaps?)
are you purchasing these Dell CDs (I assume they're coming with Dell
computers)? While what you describe certainly used to be the case, the
Dell OEM CDs we've been getting (or, more accurately the random sampling
I've tested) for the past 18 months or so refuse to even install on
non-Dell machines. They present an error message to the effect that,
and I paraphrase, "This CD was designed for installation only on the
Dell computer with which it was purchased."


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Bob Levine]

Bruce Chambers wrote:

Where (as in country) or how (special purchasing agreement,
perhaps?) are you purchasing these Dell CDs (I assume they're coming
with Dell computers)? While what you describe certainly used to be the
case, the Dell OEM CDs we've been getting (or, more accurately the
random sampling I've tested) for the past 18 months or so refuse to even
install on non-Dell machines. They present an error message to the
effect that, and I paraphrase, "This CD was designed for installation
only on the Dell computer with which it was purchased."

In the U.S. The most recent CD was last fall and it came with a
Dimension desktop.

Bob

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Bruce Chambers wrote:



In the U.S. The most recent CD was last fall and it came with a
Dimension desktop.

Bob

Interesting. Perhaps the difference lies in the product line; we
purchase business-class OptiPlexes only.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Ron Martell]

I can be back up and running in less than fifteen minutes. Imaging
software makes it simple. Just make an image after the original
installation of your OS AND apps. Faster, better, and easier than a dirty
reinstall.

The original comment was that "a clean install at least once every two
years (even though once every year is recommended)."

That precludes using a backup image, except perhaps for one that was
made right after the last clean install. And in that case there
would still have to be a year (or two years) worth of updates and
service packs to reinstall after restoring the image, plus everything
new that had been added since the last image.

This is not about recovering from a crashed or damaged installation,
but rather a purported policy that mandates a total clean reinstall
every so often. Current backup images are not relevant to this type
of policy.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."