Re: "True Clone" Builders including Windows XP OEM disks?

From: Bob Harris (rharris270[SPAM)
Date: 12/30/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:46:39 -0500

Here are few things that might help you:

1. FDISK can still be run form a win98 bootdisk. It will see NTFS
partitions as "nonDOS". It can delete them and it can create FAT32
partitions, which will certainly work with XP. See www.bootdisk.com for an
98 bootdisk and the latest FDISK.

2. Microsoft offer a free download of what they call XP "setup" disks.
These are primarily intended for PCs that can not boot from the XP CD.
However, they also include the XP recovery console, with such commands as
FIXBMR, DELPART, FORMAT, CHKDSK, etc.

3. Most towns have one or more mom&pop PC makers, that will happily build a
PC to your specifications. They will normally include an XP OEM CD, or at
least you can negotiate with them, unlike the major PC makers. And, for
some incremental price, a mom&pop could just as easily build the PC with the
full retail version of XP and give you that CD.

<axinar@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1104334168.969711.198900@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Hi there ...
>
> Yes, this is what I get for going six years between PC's. Times have
> sure changed.
>
> I finally ended up deciding on a Powerspec from MicroCenter because at
> least the HARDWARE looked reasonably generic (that Linux would boot on
> it and future Windows versions would be likely to recognize it). I
> certainly felt more comfortable with going this way than, say, the Sony
> that didn't look upgradable and didn't even have restore disks.
>
> Well, the Powerspec has a restore disk alright ... it basically writes
> the original drive image back onto the hard drive.
>
> Actually it goes much faster than a typical Windows install, but has
> some issues -- for instance I changed the video card already, to say
> nothing of the fact that the thing installs Norton Antivirus that I
> don't need and it takes longer to UNINSTALL Norton than it takes to
> reinstall the whole system.
>
> Also, there seems to be no way to get into FDISK, to say nothing of
> FIXMBR for those many instances when I need to uninstall Linux.
>
> Yes, needless to say I have an OEM disk on the way and this combo may
> ultimately be the cheaper way to go.
>
> HOWEVER ...
>
> Can any of you point me in the way of a list (or, if necessary, do you
> think it might be a good idea to START a list) of known "true clone",
> "true white box", "no funny business" manufacturers who include generic
> Windows XP OEM disks for we obsessive crackpot tinkerers who, for
> reasons still not fully understood, simply don't care for the notion of
> ripping our knuckles off installing motherboards?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ax
>

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