If a customer buys a PC with XP installed should they also have a copy of the XP CD?

[zixxer]

actually, you are supposed to make an image of the computer when you buy it. It should say so in the startup manual thing.

 

[PlatinumGold]

You have an oem install, if someone you know has an oem winxp cd you will be able to install using the product id that SHOULD be on your PC.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: iloveme2

Originally posted by: NogginBoink

Originally posted by: xxAgentCowxx
Your best bet is to hijack a copy of XP from a buddy and use the key from your computer... its still perfectly legal and you lose all the Compaq litter that comes with restoring

It's not legal at all.

You have a PID to install an OEM version of WinXP that your OEM provided you.

It does not allow you to install MS retail WinXP. In fact, an OEM PID won't work with retail media.

you can always download an oem version of xp and install it with your legal key. what's illegal about that?

my microsoft rep has told me on several occassions that it is legal. i do a lot of OEM installs and my clients prefer it if i have a copy of winxp pro with me at all times. instead of carrying a different cd for each machine (roll) i can carry one cd and use it for all oem installs of win xp.

 

[Vic]

And this is reason #1 why I have never bought an OEM pre-built PC.

If I buy software, I expect to get the disc. To me, preinstalled = ripoff

 

[jonnyfin]

yes, they should at least provide a resource recovery cd

 

[imported_Phil]

Okay fellas, here's the deal with Compaqs and restore media. Believe me, I know about this (I hate my job sometimes)...

Boot the PC. When you see the red "COMPAQ" logo on the screen during post, press F10 a few times. That'll start the recovery process- you can either Repair the existing installation or perform a Destructive restore to get rid of everything and start fresh.
The restore files are held on a FAT16 partition, usually hidden from the system, and F10 invokes the boot loader hidden on that partition.

Unfortunately, it is entirely legal for them to do as they provide the XP installation files on that partition. However, all laptops come with XP CDs from Compaq as they don't have the space for a hidden partition because their hard disks are smaller. Go figure 🙂

Anyway, you don't have any real way of wiping that partition unless you fdisk it, so don't worry about it. Norton Ghost can back that up to CD or HD with no problems at all (and it works, too).

Don't mean to be a jackass, but most of what I just said is in the manual.... 😛