Re: Copy of Windows XP on CD???
- From: "Gail" <gailc550(at)yahoo(dot)ca>
- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:50:02 -0800
I just bought another machine and find that it has the Hidden Partition
referred to in the previous post and the "Restore" disks. I emailed the
manufacturer (EMachines) and began my investigation about why I was supplied
only with Restore rather than normal WinXP Home Edition installation cd's.
An IT professional had suggested that if I contacted the manufacturer that my
licenced COA entitled me to a copy of the operating system software.
Emachines advised of their OEM licencing agreement with Microsoft and that
they did not supply installation CD's.
I researched Microsoft site under How to Tell if it is genuine software.
Under the CD section FAQ it describes when and if you should be provided with
a CD. I did not understand this OEM business of support and not having any
CD. I did not understand why if I was purchasing a system with pre-installed
software I would have a WinXP Home Edition CD - until I read the posts on
this forum. By the way, thank you posters.
The last desktop machine I bought caused me a lot of headache due to my own
ignorance. Not being familiar with manufacturers "Restore" CD's, when I was
asked if I wanted to boot from the CD I answered "yes" and it immediately
began to format my hard drive. Even though I stopped it and went seeking
help it was too late and I lost all my data some of which was home business
related. Fortunately, I had other resources to recover most but not all.
That scared the bejeezus out of me and I bought a retail version and had it
installed and everything (including my ability to sleep at night) has been
fine since.
What disturbs me about "Restore" CD's provided by manufacturers is that my
previous experience indicates that if you ever use them it formats the hard
drive and you lose all the data even if you have partitioned your drive which
I normally do. Yes,- I realize that you can (and I do) backup but there is
still a heck of lot of setup time involved in restoring all that data,
repartitioning, finding your favorite sites etc etc etc. It takes forever to
get the system back to your previous settings.
Restore CD's and Hidden Partitions also trouble me because back in 1997, I
purchased a laptop from Compaq and was told by an IT tech that if I did
uninstall Compaq's pre-installed software and used my own licenced copy of
operating system software (Win98SE at the time) many drivers would no longer
be available rendering the laptop non functional. The same tech also told me
that if I deleted that "hidden partition" to recover use of the storage space
it would also become non-functional. I never took that chance but would
dearly love to know positively if that would be the case with this current
Emachine system.
When I contacted Emachines for further information about purchasing a retail
version of WinXP Home and reinstalling all I get in response to pointed
questions about the installed hardware / drivers continuing to function
properly is that if I do purchase retail and install they no longer support
any issues with my system. Why would they hedge on a pointed question like
this?
Another issue I discovered on this purchase is that although it was
advertised as having 512MB ram when I investigated using Belarc and its own
System Properties inquiry I found that there was 384MB ram. Emachines then
advised me that the video card used 128MB of the installed RAM leaving the
"system" RAM with 384MB. Is this a new way of selling machines - a little
underhanded in my opinion. Now in order to get what I thought I was buying I
have to pay for more RAM.
The Emachine system other than being short of RAM is okay but I don't like
the idea of "Restore" CD's and the potential formatting of my hard drive if
they are ever used .
Can anyone please give me concrete answers about purchasing and installing a
retail version of WinXP Home Edition and the ultimate effect on the
hardware/drivers.
Thank you for your help
Gail
"NoNoBadDog!" wrote:
Your computer probably has a hidden partition on it's HDD to restore from..
You can either read the manual that came with your laptop, or visit the
website of the manufacturer of your laptop and find instructions on how to
re-install windows there.
You laptop came with an OEM version of windows, therefore you are not
entitled to a full Windows CD. If you want a full Windows XP CD, you will
have to buy one.
Bobby
"winworry" <winworry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:AAEBCECA-E3CF-4F4A-8817-A17119E24C63@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I received XP Pro on my laptop but never got the discs. How do i go about
getting a full copy of the software on CD?
Thanks.
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