Restore CD does not work after hard drive upgrade; what to do?

[Guest]

Here is the complete story. I've just bought an eMachine desktop that is
without a hard drive, nor restore CD's. I went to eMachine's website seeking
help. After talking to somebody in their "Live Chat" feature, I was told that
the restore CD is in the form of an image of the hard drive such that, since
the hard drive I purchased for the machine is of a different capacity from
the OEM drive, the restore CD would not work satisfactorily. In fact, that is
not the only problem with the restore CD: the factory drive was a PATA drive,
while I bought myself a SATA drive (which the motherboard also supports),
which the technician informed me simply would not work with the restore CD.

Now the question: I'd imagine that by purchasing the computer with the
motherboard, CPU and memory all unchanged, I have also gained ownership of
the Windows XP license. I wouldn't imagine an upgraded hard drive should void
that license, which leaves me what options in terms of reinstalling the OS?

 

[David Vair]

Technically you would have had to purchase the complete machine including the hard drive in order
for a complete transfer of the license. Also you would be subject to whatever eMachine's policy is
regarding changing out hardware. Best thing to do is get a retail copy of XP and do a complete
install with that.

 

[Jim Macklin]

You can also buy a Microsoft OEM Windows XP Pro which is
about 1/2 the price of a retail version. It is exactly the
same, but is licensed for only the first machine you install
it on. I would get XP Pro because support for Home will be
ending sooner.

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=368



| Technically you would have had to purchase the complete
machine including the hard drive in order
| for a complete transfer of the license. Also you would be
subject to whatever eMachine's policy is
| regarding changing out hardware. Best thing to do is get a
retail copy of XP and do a complete
| install with that.
| --
| Dave Vair
| CNE, CNA, MCP, A+, N+
|
message
| | > Here is the complete story. I've just bought an eMachine
desktop that is
| > without a hard drive, nor restore CD's. I went to
eMachine's website seeking
| > help. After talking to somebody in their "Live Chat"
feature, I was told that
| > the restore CD is in the form of an image of the hard
drive such that, since
| > the hard drive I purchased for the machine is of a
different capacity from
| > the OEM drive, the restore CD would not work
satisfactorily. In fact, that is
| > not the only problem with the restore CD: the factory
drive was a PATA drive,
| > while I bought myself a SATA drive (which the
motherboard also supports),
| > which the technician informed me simply would not work
with the restore CD.
| >
| > Now the question: I'd imagine that by purchasing the
computer with the
| > motherboard, CPU and memory all unchanged, I have also
gained ownership of
| > the Windows XP license. I wouldn't imagine an upgraded
hard drive should void
| > that license, which leaves me what options in terms of
reinstalling the OS?
|
|

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Here is the complete story. I've just bought an eMachine desktop that is
without a hard drive, nor restore CD's. I went to eMachine's website seeking
help. After talking to somebody in their "Live Chat" feature, I was told that
the restore CD is in the form of an image of the hard drive such that, since
the hard drive I purchased for the machine is of a different capacity from
the OEM drive, the restore CD would not work satisfactorily. In fact, that is
not the only problem with the restore CD: the factory drive was a PATA drive,
while I bought myself a SATA drive (which the motherboard also supports),
which the technician informed me simply would not work with the restore CD.

Now the question: I'd imagine that by purchasing the computer with the
motherboard, CPU and memory all unchanged, I have also gained ownership of
the Windows XP license. I wouldn't imagine an upgraded hard drive should void
that license, which leaves me what options in terms of reinstalling the OS?

The technician is an idiot.

They are right that it won't work, the reasoning is wrong, though--it
won't work because the hidden partition isn't there on the new drive
to copy the data from.

 

[reader]

On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 14:31:48 -0800, Loren Pechtel
<[email protected]>

snip

The technician is an idiot.

They are right that it won't work, the reasoning is wrong, though--it
won't work because the hidden partition isn't there on the new drive
to copy the data from.

So that would rule out using the restore CDs if the HDD failed
completely. How does an emachine user get XP reinstalled on a
replacement drive if the original is not accessible?

I've started looking for information for a friend who called about an
old T1096 emachine. Didn't find much information at their forum and
even less at their web site but am beginning to understand how they go
for such a low price.

Thanks