XP on CD for new PC

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Lonald Casino

Question if one buys a HP, Dell or whatever they say home XP is
included. Does that mean the CD is included if not what happens if the
hard disk crashes ?
 
I am currently sorting a Dell notebook and one of the selectable items is,
Documentation and Recovery CD for the Operating System. This costs an extra
£10.....not quit sure why though.

clanger
 
Lonald said:
Question if one buys a HP, Dell or whatever they say home XP is
included. Does that mean the CD is included if not what happens if the
hard disk crashes ?
Click to expand...
Many of the models I have seen have a partition on the HD for the
restoration of the ORIGINAL configuration. You may place that
restoration on a set of CDs via the burner, but to use them to restore
your HD you MUST go back to where it was when you purchased it. The
only other way I am aware of to keep your data once it has been upgraded
due to additional software and files, is to either clone the drive to
another HD or make an image for restoration purposes. Rarely do you
receive an XP CD that will allow repairing a messed up Windows install.

If it was I about to purchase a new computer, I would NOT buy a
computer that not only has proprietary hardware, but also does not
include an operating system CD that will allow a repair should anything
go wrong. Starting from scratch is a PAINFUL and time consuming
process, unless you are unemployed and enjoy such things.
 
Does that mean the CD is included

In most cases, yes. Depends on the vendor though.
 
I recently installed a Sony VAIO MM machine and had to make my own recovery
disks. (I think it required about 7 CD's) They do supply the process. It was
like making a startup disk for W98, but more time-consuming.
 
Question if one buys a HP, Dell or whatever they say home XP is
included. Does that mean the CD is included if not what happens if the
hard disk crashes ?
Click to expand...

A CD is included, but it's not the true XP install CD. It's a
"recovery" CD. It will only restore an installed image of XP, as per
factory defaults. If the hard drive itself actually dies, you're
screwed. HP and Compaq (not sure about Dell) puts all the required
drivers, apps, and even certain parts of the OS on a separate
partition on the hard drive. The restore CD won't even work without
that partition and all the data on it intact.

A genuine XP install CD would give you more flexibility, as it allows
you to install the OS cleanly to a new hard drive if you need to
replace it, or to reclaim the space on that restore partition.

I don't know all the policies of the big OEMs, but if the situation
arises, they will sell you a second restore CD containing an image of
the restore partition (usually for something like $10 or $20). If you
push for it, you may also find that there's an option to buy a real
OEM copy of XP. I say "may" because not all OEMs offer such an
option, and those that do, tend to be reluctant about it for whatever
reason.
 
You do NOT get the XP Home CD. You get an HP Recovery Disk; You use it in
case of a crash.
 
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