No Windows cd with my Dell

Good day to one and all...

I have a question and was wondering if any of you had a good way around it.

On some Dell machines they seem to not send out a windows cd and say that if you need to reinstall or fix anything the windows cd is installed entirely on your HD. Now that just seems like a stupid idea since if something really bad happens and your system crashes how do you get it back up and running w/o the Windows cd?

Is there any way to burn the copy of windows that Dell says is on the HD onto a cd? Is there anyway to extract that data for emergency use? Or perhaps someone knows a way around this issue.

I'm making this completely on an assumption, but I'm guessing that it is on a seperate partition not accessible by Windows itself? Once again, a complete assumption I am throwing out there...

Hi,

You are quite correct, things are getting worse............I mean it was bad enough just to be given a "recovery disk"......... now they are cutting costs by not even doing that :(

You have to make the recovery disk yourself, here are Dell's instructions for so doing:

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...dhs&dn=1091713

:)

EDIT: Obviously if your hard drive bellies up, a recovery partition is about as useful as **** on a boar. I am not sure how comprehensive this "Operating System CD" is, by the way........I do recall having problems in the past with these recovery CDs and installing a replacement HDD of a different make/specification.

However, as MS have now defined a "new computer" as a new MoBo, this should not be an issue.

Greeting's

This is the first time I have heard of such stupid step. Did they give any details like where is this "CD". I'm sure it has to be an ISO file.

Can you give us some detail as to where is this file/folder that they told you.. Is it possible to ask them the same question ? and finally Which is your Dell model ?

I’m sure I deleted that program the second I got my PC. Shiiit. Thanks for the link though.

There is no ISO, the c:\i386 folder should have everything that you need… but you can’t just burn that, it won’t be bootable that way.

Damn you Dell...damn you!

Any other ideas guys?

Greeting's


Not the smartest idea of all but "CALL THEM".. If you have what did they say ?

Sad fact of life i'm afraid, very few if any PC makers give you a copy of the OS. Dell used to.

Piracy is often quoted as the reason, My own view is they are looking for support revenue.

The couple of Dell Pc's I have come across recently, have come with either an automated on_line recovery utility or Norton Ghost. Both about as much use as. "**** on a fish" as far as I am concerned.

Hmmm,

It seems that Dell no longer ship this utility:

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NOTE: The Dell OS Recovery Utility is available on Dimension computers that were shipped between December 15, 2004 and July 15, 2005 and on Inspiron computers between January 10, 2005 and July 15, 2005. The utility is available on the same systems shipped in Europe between the dates of April 11, 2005 and February 20, 2006

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That was when they started charging $10 for a copy of the CD which was an option when you ordered the machine.

You will have to contact Dell Technical Support and get them to send you one.

:(

You can call and pay them 40 bucks for a copy of the OS. 9 times out of 10 people fail make copies. When the system boots it asks you if you want to make copies but people are too excited to get in and start screwing around with there computers they tell it no. When the computer crashes or worse the hard drive fails and then there stuck without the OS. There are some OEM disks out there that work with the Dell keys and you can install it from there. Just DL the drivers from there web site and you should be good to go. If its XP Pro and you pay for the shipping I could send you a legal disk for dell machines. Our company just ordered a crap load of dells and we put our own image on them and toss out the OEM disks.

As stated most all your retail manufacturers don't supply a cd anymore. Instead what they do is supply a partition on your hard drive that is a bootable restorable partition. Its a terrible idea since in the instance of a bad hard drive you no longer have your OS/drivers anything anymore. I think if you contact Dell and pay the 10 dollars Nihil was referring to they will mail you an OS cd.

Or you could buy another hard drive and make a mirror image of it and then you would have a copy of everything and a backup.

I would recomend shelling out the $10 for the disks from Dell. And go ahead and do it now as opposed to waiting untill you realy need them. I ran into a situation not to long ago where they had discontinued the recovery CDs for the model I was working on (customer unit) and the customer was stuck buying a copy of off the shelf XP and then we had to spend a couple of HOURS trying to track down the right drivers. Dell did not have them identified on thier site.

When I get a new pc and install all my Apps and get all the settings right I make my own recovery image by ghosting the machine to an external usb harddrive. If I mess something up or merely want to revert my system to then I simply boot off the Norton cd and image my pc off the usb drive.

I recently saw this on a hp or compaq (aren't they the same now?) laptop. They didn't give ANY system disks. However, there was a utility in the start menu that let you burn your own recovery image to DVDs. It burns an image of the machine in its current state. (Like Ghost)

There was a tiny little peice of paper explaining that they no longer ship the media, but gave steps on how to burn it on your own.

BTW: Net2Infinity nice avatar... :mad:

Not all dells have the utility to burn a copy or the restore. If its the restore Im thinking of, you can boot from a knoppix cd to see the partition. I havent really tried to open it or DD it. Its a ghost image of sorts, they will not send a cd. I fought with them for 3 months. Mines a home edition and the keys on the back of the pc, if the drive goes south you can just use that key with any xp home cd you can get a hold of.

I do remember having to do what phishphreek mentions with my Compaq Desktop 2 years ago, it used 7 CDs. I then erased the partition on the drive to regain my 2 gigs.

I guess I lucked out with my Toshiba (purchased in December) giving me a recovery DVD (although not a legit copy of Windows CD :(, the good old days, eh?)

A friend of mine had made the mistake on his HP and fdisk'ed the drive before making a recovery disk or copying the partition. He called HP and they gave him recovery disks for his HP. So contacting Dell is prob the best thing to do and asking for a disk.

Personally, I always make backups of the information on a new computer in case of harddrive failures, virus outbreaks or ID10t errors.

Can never be too paranoid :)

These recovery disks really are a pain for private users. All they basically do is restore the computer back to its original state (assuming it is not a repair/corruption issue).

This is not very helpful if you have to replace the HDD, as you will be faced with installing all the OS and driver updates again.

At least with a genuine OS disk you can slipstream it, and cut this work down. It wouldn't be so bad if you could create as many recovery disks as you liked, because then you could keep them up to date. Unfortunately on machines that I have seen you are only allowed to make one, and naturally you do this as soon as possible.

I guess the best solution at the moment is to use something like Acronis, Ghost, or whatever and periodically create images of your drive? This would certainly give you the fastest recovery time, but unfortunately it costs. :(

/aside/ yes phish~ HP bought Compaq a while back..........and before that Compaq took over Digital.

When I ordered my e1705 a few months ago, I knew I wasn't shelling out $10 for the OS disc. Not a lot of money, especially considering the overall price of the system, but (for me anyway) it's the principle of the matter. I simply emailed support and told them I would be formatting the hard drive -- reinstalling Windows, drivers, software, etc. -- and they shipped out all three discs. I received them that same week.

I'm amazed that an OS disk isn't supplied with the PC. I've always used a laptop and am very familiar with the problems of recovery disks and the absolute refusal of the manufacturer to provide an "ordinary" installation disk. I have, after all, paid for the hardware as well as the OS, so what's the problem in supplying me with a "normal" OS disk? I resorted to purchasing a separate one and then installed that, so avoiding all the additional manufacturer-specific software but it means that I have 2 OS activation keys.

Try getting your Windows tax back.. That's even worse..

I have tried with Toshiba (seems to be easier now) and DELL..

But in the case of DELL you can only get out of paying Windows tax by buying their server range.. None of the home computer models come without OS..
Or do they finaly have FreeDOS as an option (heard something about that months ago)..

The thing seems to be that 99% of the users don't care about such issues..

Only the techy people care..
The others just want their computer to browse for porn..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rBL2eiO0pDA

Let me clear up a couple things for everyone here.
Dell started this when they instated the MRI (media reduction initiative) witch means Dimensions and inspiron systems sent during a date rang would be sent with an Image Restore partition on the drive. Dell partnered with Symantec and created a tool that allows any user to press CTRL- F11 at the Dell splash screen and it will re-image the system back to the factory image in about 10min. but as said in previous posts it is worthless if the hard drive goes bad. witch is why on these systems the User can burn a copy of the Dell OS CD, by going to Start > All Programs > Dell Accessories > Operating System Restore CD. However if all ells fails just call Dell Tech support and they will issue the media Free of charge (if you are in warrantee.)
Dell did this on the Dimension and Inspiron systems because those systems are geared toward the home users who find it difficult and time consuming to reinstall windows if things screw up horribly. (As windows often does with home users)

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Good day to one and all...

I have a question and was wondering if any of you had a good way around it.

On some Dell machines they seem to not send out a windows cd and say that if you need to reinstall or fix anything the windows cd is installed entirely on your HD.

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I work for a major computer manufacture and we have our *own* recovery software as well. We do not send out 'windows cds'. It's OEM baby ;) Also, all software is intergrated into the system. Meaning, when your 'hard drive' fails, crashes, display errors, (no os found, smart failure, etc...) or just make loud noise when powering on your system *it's your job* to 'create recovery cds'. All Manufactures when you buy a brand new desktop/notebook it will display a message in the windows notification area for at least 30 days, for the customer, saying 'please create recovery cds? (you get the idea)

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Now that just seems like a stupid idea since if something really bad happens and your system crashes how do you get it back up and running w/o the Windows cd?

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It's a not a stupid idea is a very intelligent idea. Heres why,

1.) Money saver for company.

2.) Money Maker for company (hey we have a parts department where you can purchase 'recovery cds') trick is, you can make your own no need to purchase them. ;)

3.) Now the important one, how to get it back up? Since the software is already intergrated into the system all you usually have to do is

Press one of the F1 through F12 our company is (f8) keys, on the keyboard. This should trigger the 'recovery software' from there you can reformat system and get it 'up and running' properly.

I think the restore cd's are a waste they set the system back to factory default but they include all the demos adware and junk that
people don't want and isn't easy to remove.

That's why alot of people erase their partitions and install Windows fresh on their computers with their own copy.

Hmmmm,

shockwaveX343

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That's why alot of people erase their partitions and install Windows fresh on their computers with their own copy.

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That is not strictly true as it goes.

1. Most sizable corporates or other institutional users will do this. They have their own standard deployments, and this is what they install. Their users have no need for the OEM eyecandy or a recovery partition................hell, they have a professional support team to back them up, and all their work is on a server.

2. Most home users buy a PC just like they were getting a TV or a microwave or a fridge..................and they use them accordingly; like just as they came out of the box.

3. People who know what they are doing will build their own kit. If they get second user stuff they will treat it just the same and install their own software onto a clean drive.

4. Intermediate users will go to a small OEM and get the system built to their requirements.

I build OEM kit and all my stuff comes with a complete (OEM) edition of the OS. This is the same as the retail version, but does have some DRM restrictions ;)

There is a price discount, but nothing like the big boys must get.

Can I check something about the legal situation:

If I buy a new laptop with XP Pro, it will come with a manufacturer-specific version i.e. it will have extras that the manufacturer wants me to have, along with a recovery disk. There's a Microsoft sticker under the laptop with a product key.

If I buy a standard XP Pro with it's own product key, can I use the CD that I've bought in association with the product key that came with the laptop? As far as I know, it will install correctly but is there anything illegal about this?

Similarly, if a friend has a new laptop (with XP Pro) and wants to go through the same process, can I use my new "plain" XP Pro installation disk in association with their product key?

If this is all OK, I will still have an unused product key (that came with the installation disk that I bought) so I guess I could use that to install XP Pro onto a different PC that ran a different OS previously.

I stress that I've not done any of this, I just want to get straight exactly what I can and can't do. I suspect that the legal issues surrounding these installlation disks and product keys are very complex and I'd like to have it clear in my mind.

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Can I check something about the legal situation:

If I buy a new laptop with XP Pro, it will come with a manufacturer-specific version i.e. it will have extras that the manufacturer wants me to have, along with a recovery disk. There's a Microsoft sticker under the laptop with a product key.

If I buy a standard XP Pro with it's own product key, can I use the CD that I've bought in association with the product key that came with the laptop?

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No you cannot. The 25 digit product key code on the bottom of the notebook is (OEM)completey different than a standalone version of windows XP pro you would buy from best buy for example.

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Similarly, if a friend has a new laptop (with XP Pro) and wants to go through the same process, can I use my new "plain" XP Pro installation disk in association with their product key?

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If you do a 'clean install' as they call it, it will void your warranty for your/friends notebook.

Everything you need to fix your desktop/notebook is all intergrated into the system. Meaning, there is no need to purchase extra windows cds, or recovery cds all you are doing is waisting your money.

If you create recovery cds before anything bad happens to your system (hdd for example) then your not SOL.

We install and intergrate the software into the system for this very reason.

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If you do a 'clean install' as they call it, it will void your warranty for your/friends notebook.

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You sure about that? I routinely work rollouts where the customer's installing their own images on newly leased PC's. I doubt it affects their warranty. Might read the fine print (or consult your attorney).

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Similarly, if a friend has a new laptop (with XP Pro) and wants to go through the same process, can I use my new "plain" XP Pro installation disk in association with their product key?

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I've done exactly that with different versions of Windows, and it often works. What's the problem? Does MS's license tie a product key to a specific install media?

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If this is all OK, I will still have an unused product key (that came with the installation disk that I bought) so I guess I could use that to install XP Pro onto a different PC that ran a different OS previously.

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Why not?

Hmmm,

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I've done exactly that with different versions of Windows, and it often works. What's the problem? Does MS's license tie a product key to a specific install media?

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Be careful here.............you have two contracts, one with Microsoft and one with the OEM.

If you remove the OEM software you will have invalidated your software warranty. If you then go to Microsoft they will see that it is an OEM key and will tell you to go to your OEM provider for help.

They will support (to some extent) store bought OEM disk installations such as I sell, but not those from the "big boys". This is part of the business model. I would guess that the "big boys" are paying a third or maybe less than what I do.

As for the media, it shouldn't matter...............MS are licensing you to use software not selling you a coaster :D So, if you use any disk to do a repair, you should be OK as you have licenced software.

I have found that to be a pain with some CD/DVD devices that ship Nero, but only for that particular device................even two bought at the same time wouldn't accept the other's CD :(

Thank you for the feedback. I thought it wouldn't be straightforward!

As far as installing a normal version of XP Pro onto my laptop's concerned, I'm not bothered about the warranty but I am concerned that the product key that came with the laptop won't work with an ordinary XP Pro installation disk. In effect, there would be an extra operating system licence which makes the laptop licence redundant. I realise that it would be my choice, but I don't want a system that's bloated with manufacturer-specific software. If only computer manufacturers supplied "bare" computers so users had the option of installing what we want. I know that linux is a popular operating system that folks install. I suppose (hope) it will only be a matter of time before this becomes an option for everyone, as opposed to the relatively small number who are capable of building a system from scratch.

One final point - if the purchased XP Pro disk is OEM, rather than retail, would that work with the product key that's on the laptop? Computernerd22 implies that any XP Pro OEM product key will work with any XP Pro OEM installation disk and that any XP Pro retail product key will work with any XP Pro retail installation disk but it's not possible to mix OEM and retail product keys and disks. Have I got that right?

Software has a warranty? I've only dealt directly with MS a few times, and they never asked about a Windows key. The closest thing I've ever seen to warranty work for software is patches.

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So, if you use any disk to do a repair, you should be OK as you have licenced software.

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I would hope that's correct. The G.D. licensing's gotten so convoluted, you never know.

Support? What is support? Thirty minutes on hold so you can talk to a tech with a heavy south Indian accent who only works Level 1 and is as likely as not to give you bad advice!

:mad:

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You sure about that? I routinely work rollouts where the customer's installing their own images on newly leased PC's. I doubt it affects their warranty. Might read the fine print (or consult your attorney).

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I know for a fact the computer company I work for if the customer gets rid of our software that came with their brand new notebook/desktop and they decide to get rid of it, and install their *own* version of windows xp, then yes, it will void their warranty with us.

We do not assist nor troubleshoot 'clean installs' theres a reason for it.

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Computernerd22 implies that any XP Pro OEM product key will work with any XP Pro OEM installation disk

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i didnt imply anything like this, go back and re-read my reply.

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As far as installing a normal version of XP Pro onto my laptop's concerned, I'm not bothered about the warranty but I am concerned that the product key that came with the laptop won't work with an ordinary XP Pro installation disk

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Your backwards. You don't care about your warranty, but your care about a 25 digit prodcut key code that doesnt hold any value. (much like your warranty for your system). You won't be saying that 'I dont care about my warranty,' when your MOBO goes out or you have a cracked LCD screen or a fan went out for example. Wait until they charge you for it, then for shipping and handling. I don't think the 25 digit product key code will 'assist' you there. ;)

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We do not assist nor troubleshoot 'clean installs' theres a reason for it.

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Understood, ComputerNerd. I often do rollouts for good-sized enterprises. They lease their units from Dell, then reimage them. And, of course, they're doing their own support in-house. Being leased units, I do believe the hardware is warrantied on some level (lawdy, they go thru a lot of Maxtor hdd's).

So your company voids any hardware warranty if the OEM software is deinstalled?

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So your company voids any hardware warranty if the OEM software is deinstalled?

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Again, yes. They remove *our* software and replace it with their *own* it voids their warranty. Whether its hardware/software.

Were not responsible for 'clean installs' installing unneccessary software, and drivers for their systems causing driver conflicts and other conflicts that can cause 'hardware' to malfunction.

Speaking from experience there a different types of windows install CDs. The ones you buy off the shelf and the OEM ones. Thay have different keys. An off the shelf windows cd will not recognize an OEM key and vice versa.

And as far as warranties go we are talking two completely differernt situations. On one hand we have home users, and on the other hand we have corporations doing large scale stuff with an inhouse IT department. Now I know for a fact that most major manufacturers do not support software issues, malware, and such as part of the warranty. How do I know this? I (untill i got laid off due to corporate restructure) worked at an authorized service center for most major brand computers. The only major manufaturer we were not an authorized center for was dell. And dont even get me started on them.

And yes it is perfectly legal for them to consider the warranty void after ANY modification. Its like going out and buying a brand new Chevy S-10 and putting a 350 in it. Chevy isnt going to honor the warranty if the transmision goes out. They take the view that if you could figure out how to make the changes you should be able to figure out how to fix it.

On the other hand we have fairly decent sized companies. They have in house IT and leased equipment. There is usualy a service agreement between the manufacturer and the company. It usualy consists of the company agreeing to lease X amount of equipment for N amount of time and have IT people with Z qualifications. In return when said IT people contact the manufacturer they will send and parts ,within reason, requested. They put a certain amount of trust in the IT people because they have said qualifications.

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Originally posted here by Computernerd22

Your backwards. You don't care about your warranty, but your care about a 25 digit prodcut key code that doesnt hold any value. (much like your warranty for your system). You won't be saying that 'I dont care about my warranty,' when your MOBO goes out or you have a cracked LCD screen or a fan went out for example. Wait until they charge you for it, then for shipping and handling. I don't think the 25 digit product key code will 'assist' you there. ;) [/B]

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The reason that I'm not bothered about warranty is because my laptop warranty has expired.

Sorry if I misunderstood your response about OEM/retail disks and OEM/retail product keys. Am I right in thinking that an OEM disk will only work with an OEM product key and a retail disk will only work with a retail product key?

I appreciate that many here have worked in the industry for quite some considerable time. I'm an eager amateur who's trying to learn more about this confusing field!

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Sorry if I misunderstood your response about OEM/retail disks and OEM/retail product keys. Am I right in thinking that an OEM disk will only work with an OEM product key and a retail disk will only work with a retail product key?

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I answered that one allready and so have other people. Try reading a little.

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Am I right in thinking that an OEM disk will only work with an OEM product key and a retail disk will only work with a retail product key?

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You never know until you try...

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Originally posted here by brokencrow
Support? What is support? Thirty minutes on hold so you can talk to a tech with a heavy south Indian accent who only works Level 1 and is as likely as not to give you bad advice!

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That's why Dell instituted the live chat feature...it was a godsend when my laptop display went bad. I had the problem solved and a tech sent out to replace it the next day. Not sure if other vendors have this available, but it definitely beats talking to "Johh" or "Mary" from India, and you have a transcript emailed to you for your records.

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Originally posted here by Computernerd22
Again, yes. They remove *our* software and replace it with their *own* it voids their warranty. Whether its hardware/software.

Were not responsible for 'clean installs' installing unneccessary software, and drivers for their systems causing driver conflicts and other conflicts that can cause 'hardware' to malfunction.

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Who do you work for ??


I only ask so I may avoid them like the "black death".

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Who do you work for ??

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I work for a major computer company in the USA. Now, that I am off of work and off of their 'restricted' workstations and on my home pc I can clarify, what I meant since I was in a hurry at work.

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Again, yes. They remove *our* software and replace it with their *own* it voids their warranty. Whether its hardware/software.

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When I said if They remove *our* software and replace it with their *own* it voids their warranty. For example, if you buy a new notebook and you remove *our* software and install a distro of Linux and your hardware fails, then 'you' would have to run *our software* thats ingerated into the system (so its never really gone) then reformat the machine to rule out tat it could possibly be a software issue. However, if the same promblem occurs after performing a fully recovery then yes, we would have the laptop serviced and we would pay for shipping and handling and everything else free of charge and it have back in a few buisness days. ;)

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I only ask so I may avoid them like the "black death".

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I like it where I am at. I wouldnt bad mouth my company. ;)

Hope thhis clear things up.

Hey, Computernerd22, I think that you might be giving a slightly bad impression about your company?

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if They remove *our* software and replace it with their *own* it voids their warranty.

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When suppliers deal with major corporate or institutional customers, they do so on the buyer's terms. Typically, they just want the hardware and no service or support services, as they have their own staff to handle that.

So, this is taken into account in the contract negotiations, and all the OEM is usually left with is the parts/components warranty, and even that is negotiable.

It is very much a dual market economy ;)

The institutional customer wants control and consistency. That should be built into their security model anyways?................. the OEM wants consistency, but only from a support viewpoint, so they are quite happy to negotiate special terms with major customers.

The only time this becomes an issue is with small and individual customers, who expect the OEM warranty? I guess it then boils down to the old saying "you cannot have your cake and eat it". So, if you mess with the product you void the warranty................ but that goes for just about everything you buy these days doesn't it?

I really don't see this as a big deal, hell, if someone messed with a machine that I built for them then I would not repair it for free :eek: