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Reusing an OEM "Restore/Recovery" disk?

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2336

Elite Member
Folks, I've never tried this and was wondering. If someone had an OEM computer and replaced the motherboard with a non-OEM MoBo with a similar chipset would they still be able to use the restore/recovery disk and how would they go about it? I was looking at the person being able to still use whatever word processing and other software might be on the recovery disk instead of having to purchase all of it separately. I know it may sound weird but I figured what the heck.
 
You're saying...can you use for instance a Compaq restore disk on the same system if the motherboard has been replaced with like an ASUS or something? I have never been able to myself. I think they check signatures in the bios or some other method of knowing if it's a system mfg'd by the company. even about a year ago I wanted an easy way to load my home system with Win2k...I tried to use the restore set from my Gateway laptop and it stopped me saying basically that "this is not a Gateway system"...YMMV
 
Generally no. It really will depend on the manufacturer and what they are checking in their restore disk, but as was posted most check the bios for a signature. Your new MB won't have the original vendors bios and therefor it won't work.

Bill
 
Thanks giuys. That's exactly what I was looking for. I've got a friend that purchased a used eMachines unit and she called with a problem. The way she decribed it the problem probably lies in the motherboard or power supply. I told her that if it was the power supply it was a no brainer. The motherboard, on the other hand, might be a different story - especially if I can't get a replacement MoBo from eMachines. I figured that I can get her a non-OEM replacement for cheaper but she's gonna have to fork out for an O/S and whatever software she had before. I was just trying to save her some money. Thanks for the input.😉

BTW, she didn't give me the model number and all I know is that it uses a Celeron 900. She'll boot it up and about 20 seconds or so after windows finishes booting up the power LED blinks a couple of times and the monitor goes blank. What do you guys think?
 
With my HP, you couldn't use the recovery disk, but as long as the software had been installed on the HD, you could change anything. If you use a drive copy program, you could also change the hard drive itself. You shouldn't have a problem if the HD is intact.
 
That makes sense. If I install the same MoBo with the same features without wiping the HDD then it should work, right?
 
It did for me.

With the HP software it only checked the manufacturer if you tried to use the recovery CDs. I don't know how windows will handle the new MB - I didn't have any trouble in win98 copying the drive to a completely different system.
 
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