Windows XP Install CD??

[Ron Reaugh]

What is the situation on the market today with Windows XP install CDs and
new desktops or portables? Are most the major suppliers of desktops like
Dell, Gateway, HP/Compaq, Sony, IBM, Toshiba etc. delivering a real XP
install CD or are they delivering only a recovery CD which is just a HD
image that gets copied back to the HD?

Same questions for portables and laptops?

 

[Jason Haynes]

Gateway and Dell ship OEM cd versions of XP that can be used for clean
installs. HP/Compaq don't ship with any kind of recovery cd. They use a
hidden partition which can only be used to restore the machine to the way
they set the machine up when it was built. I don't have any experience with
the others.

 

[Oli Restorick [MVP]]

To my mind, that's a good reason not to buy a machine from HP/Compaq.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Gateway and Dell ship OEM cd versions of XP that can be used for clean
installs.

Is that true for both desktops and portables for Gateway and Dell?

HP/Compaq don't ship with any kind of recovery cd. They use a
hidden partition which can only be used to restore the machine to the way
they set the machine up when it was built.

Wait a minute...HP/Compaq ships with no recovery capability for a failed
HD(I find that very unlikely)?

 

[Jason Haynes]

Is that true for both desktops and portables for Gateway and Dell?

I don't see why it would be any different.

Wait a minute...HP/Compaq ships with no recovery capability for a failed
HD(I find that very unlikely)?

OEM's are only required to provide some way to get the machine back to the
way it was when it was purchased. HP/Compaq use a hidden partition and a
system recovery application to start the process. You can order a set of
recovery cd's from them (at extra cost) to do exactly the same thing in case
of a complete hdd failure.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

I was under the impression that Gateway/Dell CD were Recovery CDs?

As for HP/Compaq, they make sure you "stick" with them for the replacement
disk. (sucks!)

y.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

OEM's are only required to provide some way to get the machine back to the
way it was when it was purchased.

"required"...by who?

 

[Jason Haynes]

"required"...by who?

You know, I never thought about that part of it. I haven't a clue.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

It's a condition of their OEM contract with Microsoft.

Bruce Chambers

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[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Ron;
I believe it is part of the OEM licensing agreement the OEM has with
with Microsoft.

 

[Jason Haynes]

I have a Gateway and my neighbor has a Dell. Both include a fully functional
Windows XP cd.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Greetings --

It's a condition of their OEM contract with Microsoft.

MS requires the OEMs to supply what exactly?? Someone in this thread
suggests that no recovery nor install OS CD is included for some but only a
recovery partition on the HD. I see that you're an incorrigible top

 

[Ron Reaugh]

I have a Gateway and my neighbor has a Dell. Both include a fully functional
Windows XP cd.

How recently were the systems delivered? Please define "fully functional"?

 

[Ron Reaugh]

I have a Gateway and my neighbor has a Dell. Both include a fully functional
Windows XP cd.

Home or Pro? I wonder if there's any difference surrounding that?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Microsoft requires that the OEMs provide a means of restoring the
hard drive to its original, ex-factory condition. The specific means
of doing so, whether it be a full installation CD, a Recovery CD, a
Recovery partition, or black magic, is left to the discretion of each
OEM.

Bruce Chambers

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Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Torgeir Bakken (MVP)]

Home or Pro? I wonder if there's any difference surrounding that?

Here in Norway, Dell comes with an full WinXP OS CD regardless of it is Home or
Pro.

 

[Torgeir Bakken (MVP)]

MS requires the OEMs to supply what exactly?? Someone in this thread
suggests that no recovery nor install OS CD is included for some but only a
recovery partition on the HD.

Hi

With regards to the OEM contract, the recovery partition on the HD is
comparable with a recovery CD as far as Microsoft is concerned.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Greetings --

Microsoft requires that the OEMs provide a means of restoring the
hard drive to its original, ex-factory condition. The specific means
of doing so, whether it be a full installation CD, a Recovery CD, a
Recovery partition, or black magic, is left to the discretion of each
OEM.

So nothing in the OEM agreement prevents the OEMs from supplying an XP
install CD?

 

[FredP]

Sony also ships without a CD and uses the hidden partition for recovery ...
although it does have an option to create your own recovery CD. As a matter
of fact, it keeps bugging you to do just that.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Not a thing. Some OEMs simply prefer to keep costs down by
providing the minimum required. Hiring a tech support person who need
only say "Insert the Recovery CD and restore the PC to its original
state" is a lot less expensive than having to hire a support tech
sufficiently competent to walk the average user through a repair of
the OS.

Bruce Chambers

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Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH