[Acad guy]

I've heard of people buying a new system at the store (which comes with winxp) but they don't get the actual winxp CD. Is this legal? is the store just trying to resell these CDs? I mean what if their HD crashes a few years down thre road and they have to re-install XP?

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Howdy:

Nope, that is common practise.. The company buys a single cd and a Volume License from Microsoft.. They install the OS using one of the licenses purchased from Microsoft and away they go..

Most will have a hidden partition that the buy can use to make their own Recovery/Restore cd but you will have to check with the retailer for that info..

Murray

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

Nope, that is common practise.. The company buys a single cd and a Volume License from Microsoft.. They install the OS using one of the licenses purchased from Microsoft and away they go..

Most will have a hidden partition that the buy can use to make their own Recovery/Restore cd but you will have to check with the retailer for that info..

Murray

[wannabe1]

Hi Acad guy...

It's not the store keeping the cd, it's the manufacturer not supplying one with the machine. HP lost a class action suit over this very issue...they are now required to supply one to anyone who asks (at a nominal fee, of course. Last I heard they were charging a little over $20).

We see this situation almost daily here at G2G and it is, indeed, a troubleing situation...both for the user and the person helping to fix the problem. This is a very good argument for supporting a local computer shop rather than buying an OEM machine. There are many advantages to having a nonproprietory machine!

wannabe1

[Acad guy]

Doesn't sound right to me.

So what if their HD ~does~ crash and they need to re-install winxp? Or what if they want to upgrade their HD or computer? How do they re-load xp?

[Murray S.]

That's why HP lost their class action suit and why most retailers that sell without a cd use the hidden partition and make your own option..

BTW.. You aren't paying for a cd when you buy these systems, just a legal install of your operating system with a legal license (which you are getting)..

Murray

[headwayne]

Would it be best to go ahead and purchase and install the OS at the time of the new computer purchase? Would it be any more complicated than upgrading from say an ME to an XP? Having done something like this in the past and anticipating the purchase of a new computer, I would really like to have the peace of mind that my own no's and CD would bring. BUT will it be a big problem initially???
Thanks for letting me butt into someone else's topic.

[wannabe1]

headwayne...

When you go to purchase your new computer, check with some of the local computer shops. Ask around a bit about which shop provides good machines with good support. Having a retail version operating system on the machine and the disk that goes with it is a definite advantage should things go awry.

wannabe1

[dsenette]

the best option...is to ask whether you get the windows software with the computer when you attempt to purchase it....if they say "no" ask about the hidden partition and for instructions on how to use it....if they say they don't do either....don't buy a machine from them