The official Microsoft word on Windows media supplied with new computers

As promised, I said I would try and get the official Microsoft position on whether computer builders are required to supply Windows CD's, Restore CD's or recovery partitions on the hard drive. After consultations with my MVP guy at MS, it seems that computer builders are not required to supply anything at all beyond a proper Certificate of Authenticity and a preinstalled operating system.

Here is the OEM licence agreement:

http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/s...SB_License.pdf

Armed with that information, I would strongly advise anyone purchasing a new computer that comes without any means of recovering from a damaged Windows installation to invest in some imaging software, such as Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image and burn an image of the OS to CDR as soon as possible after getting the PC. It still won't allow any of the repairs that can be done with a proper Windows CD, but the other alternative would be to have to go and buy a retail Windows CD if the installation becomes seriously damaged or unbootable.

Could you demand that they include a copy with a newly purchased PC ?

Or would you be expected to pay extra for it ?

How about saying instead of giving me all that other sh&@ such as MS Works insert obsolete version number here and crap software I'll never use and it's just bogging down my computer, I'll take a real copy of MS Windows insert latest and greatest OS version - actually greatest is debatable but.....

Nope you can't demand anything at all. All the PC supplier is obliged to give you is a pre-installed OS and a COA. Of course many suppliers may give you a CD if you pay extra for it, and I would advise anyone to get one if they are in a position to do so, repairing Windows without one is a near impossibility.

It's worth mentioning that the "Restore CD's" that are usually supplied vary greatly - some will only allow a clean reinstall of Windows with the total loss of all data. Anyone with one of those needs to take extra care to ensure that proper backups have been made of all important data.

Also, I know of at least one UK computer manufacturer who charges an exorbitant amount for one of those Restore CD's. It may be worth getting an OEM CD of Windows instead, that is the most versatile solution of all, even though it does mean that you have to pay for Windows twice.

Further to this all...

From further MS's info on its licensing:

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What is an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD?
An Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD features a three-dimensional holographic image over the entire surface of the CD. This holographic image is part of the CD itself. It is not a sticker, and makes it easier to identify genuine Microsoft software. Genuine Microsoft software comes with an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD.

When should I receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD?
You should receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD if you acquired your Microsoft Windows operating system software with the purchase of your PC from a System Builder — a small or medium-sized PC manufacturer. You can also check this by looking at your COA label. If the COA label on your PC carries the phrase "OEM Product" below the program name, OR if the number on the far right side of your COA ends with the letter "D," then you should receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD from your PC manufacturer.

What if I did not receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD?
In this case, look at your COA label. If the COA label on your PC carries the phrase "OEM Product" below the program name, OR if the number on the far right side of your COA ends with the letter "D," then you should receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD from your PC manufacturer. If your COA contains either of the above features and you did not receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD, find out what you can do.

If the COA label on your PC is specifically branded with the name of a PC manufacturer, OR if the number on the far right side of your COA ends without the letter "D," then you should not have received an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD from your PC manufacturer.

If you still have any questions regarding the authenticity of your Windows operating system software, we encourage you to compare your anti-piracy feature.

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Originally posted by DrMDJ
If your COA contains either of the above features and you did not receive an Edge-to-Edge Hologram CD, find out what you can do.

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What does that mean ?

Find out from where, whom ?

It means contact whomever you got the system from. The point being made is that if you fit the outlined criteria and did not get the CD, you should have.

Hi,

My new PC also comes with XP pre installed and recovery disk. The CD/RW has stopped functioning, though the device is present and ‘The device is working properly’ according to the Device Status in properties. When I insert and try to use a CD, I get the instruction to ‘insert a CD’. I notice too that on boot-up, there is a message about channel 1 and 2 not present (or something like that). In addition to this there is an option to press F10, which takes me to a utility that repairs the OS, but on using it, I got the message that the OS is corrupt and the recovery disk should be used to restore it. The problem is that according to the PC’s literature, I should not use the recovery CD without the supplier’s permission (and instruction), which leads to the second problem that they are not responding to the emails. To me, this method of providing the OS is a waste of time, at least with my previous PC/ win98, if there was a problem, I would simply save my info and reinstall the OS from the proper CD.
The other drawback I can see is when I want to upgrade the OS, is this going to be another potential minefield?

Last fall Dell quit supplying an OS CD with a lot of their computers. That's when I finally weaned myself off of Dell and built my own. If I have to buy an OS CD anyway, I might as well buy it for a computer I built to MY specs. If more people (actually, LOTS more people, LOL) did this, the manufacturers might get the idea. What a way to save a few cents on production-- give the customer the option to spend a dollar to add the OS CD as part of the system configuration.

When you buy a computer with XP, you are not buying a "copy" of the software, you are actually buying a liscense to use the software. I can see both sides of the issue here. Yes, CD's are cheap to image but if you think about the hundreds of thousands of systems Dell sells, then that it a nice piece of cash of every year.
Anytime I volunteer to rebuild a system for a deployed military person, I smiled when they said they had a Dell becuase as long as they had a Dell, I have an arseanl of media to use. Hp's are commonly sold in the PX's and HP started this whole mess of a recovery partition and you muts go thru the motions of extracting the software if you can get to it. Now this is not a problem as long as someone has been diligent up front about extracting the partitioned software, but I have yet to see one that has.
Now Dell has started doing this, but I still have tons of CD's to use so I dont worry about that. My fun time now includes hanging out in the PX and listening to the sales pitches from unqualified personnel. Want some new fun? Go to any store, say a BestBuy back home and just listen.

Hey guys...remember the troops. My guys are now gone for a year. Keep them in your prayers.

Retired Army here, jmwills. Bought all my Dell's on the AAFES website. I've heard AAFES was going to break off their association with Dell due to Dell's various support problems, but don't really believe it.

(can i just ask what the MVP symbols mean next to some peoples names?)

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Originally Posted by james giles

(can i just ask what the MVP symbols mean next to some peoples names?)

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Microsoft Most Valuable Professional

More info here

Can't speak for AAFES, but all of DOD is on Dell, so I dont think AAFES can go to far astray, bu t agin, most of their operations are lousy anyways, or at least ours is.

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Originally Posted by Nix

Could you demand that they include a copy with a newly purchased PC ?

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You certainly may demand such a 'recovery' disc. If they refuse you may refuse to give them your money, and ought to take your funds to an intelligent, cooperatived, dealer. I can't imagine buying a computer without backup disc for all software included, plus all the proper manuals.

You are not buying a copy of the operating syetm, you are in fact buying a licesne to use the copy supplied. Sounds like lawyer talk, but that's the fact. The OEM's are trying to get out of the practice of supplying the discs.

I don't mind not getting the CD for windows installation, but all I have is a recovery disk. You can not just install windows, you have to install the recovery like it was when you got it. I would like to make a copy of The OS I have so I can just repair the OS.
Can anytell me, How or if you can make a copy of just the OS with the install. I sure am not smart enough to know how to do it

Have a look on your restore CD and see if there is a folder called i386 on it. If there is then you can boot up with a Win98 Startup floppy with CDROM support, then navigate to the i386 folder on the CD and run Winnt.exe. That will run the normal Windows Setup.

You can get a startup floppy here:

Bootdisks


If your recovery CD doesn't have the i386 folder, then it is probably a disk image, and there is nothing you can do other than buying another Windows CD.

SuperSparks
Thanks for the reply.
I went to c:\windows
and it has both files.
i386 folder and
Winnt.exe.
Do you think I could burn the file Windows to a cd
and be able to repair Windows from there.
I contacted Sony, and they told me they did not sell,
nor with they supply just a copy of Windows XP Pro

Thanks for your time

hi

some OEM's have a CD building tool in their non_CD_supplied systems.

some of the CD building tools zap the existing hidden copies after the burn,
some don't.

hmmm. This thread is almost a year old;)

But it was great to see DrMDJs comments! Man I miss that guy and his computer encyclopedic mind!

And jtdoom too :)

I am still trying to find a way to repair, instead of
a complete install in windows xp pro

If I figure it out, I will let you know.

The closest thing I found,

I have Ghost.

I make a copy on another partition, and I make a backup
about once a month.

Thanks for your time

First off, reading the thread, I understand that I was lucky when I was handed a Win XP SP2 CD at my request w my custom built comp.

I got it w my first such one, so the guys here are really cool.

Secondly, Ghosting the platform takes care of the dll's? I ask this b/c I know that when transfering a hard drive it's not fullproof w the softwares, it is w the data, but not w the software b/c of the dll's. They can be corrupted or not transfered at all.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not entirely sure about this. I believe they need to provide you with a copy of the software. This could, and often does, take the form of a restore installation on a second partition (Acer and IBM are well known for this). I do not believe you can just install Windows and give them a COA. That is a bit of a stretch as far as I know, and certainly is not my MO when I do builds.

A full image backup, using TrueImage or Ghost, copies everything bit for bit, including all Dlls.

SK, they can just install Windows and supply a COA. I checked this with my MVP lead and got the info from Microsoft directly. I don't agree with the practice though, I think everyone should be supplied with a means of repairing or reinstalling the OS.

What the heck do they do with all of the OEM disks they accumulate, then? The COA is put on the computer and the Getting Started manual is probably tossed, but what a waste if they're tossing perfectly good Redmond disks - thousands of them, no less. I'd think giving the disk with the computer would generate goodwill with the customers. The way things are handled now, they're giving their customers the shaft.

Where do you think the OEM cds come from?

I assumed straight from Microsoft/Redmond, like the ones that I buy. Just slightly different for the individual mfrs.

They don't have to buy OEM discs from Microsoft, indeed it costs them extra if they do, AFAIK. The big system builders are allowed to, and so far as I know usually do, install Windows from a master image, and also to make their own recovery media (or not). The OEM discs that the rest of us can buy tend to only be used by the smaller builders (and is a good reason to buy from one, if you're not building your own PC, IMO).

Never thought of it, really, but that makes sense. Dell sure wouldn't buy 100,000 wrapped CDs and then have to peel off every one of those COAs.