«

In article <8K6ad.11834$> in nz.comp on Sun, 10
Oct 2004 21:51:11 +1300, JohnO <> says...
>
> "Chris Mayhew" <> wrote in message
> news:1097397940.QlSRCBoNRuvEE6OgNcOl9w@teranews...
> > Chris Wilkinson wrote:
> >> Hi there,
> >>
> >> A small ooops meant that WindowsXP was zapped while installing a linux
> >> distro to some spare space (accidentally selected Windows partition to
> >> put linux system on, XP partition zeroed then overwritten before mistake
> >> was realised)...
> >>
> >> The laptop never came with a WindowsXP install disk, so under those
> >> circumstances would it be possible to get the OEM disk for that machine
> >> from the supplier? Its still under warranty...
> >>
> > When I asked about this question a few months back the general feeling was
> > that you couldn't because the notebook manufacturer would have a license
> > from MS to make their own "restore" CD based on a Windows installation and
> > that, that CD was meant to replace the OEM version. In my case, a Dell,
> > the "restore" CD was a modified XP install CD which worked fine when
> > reinstalling on a repartitioned HDD.
>
> I thought that meant you couldn't use a laptop system restore cd to install
> on a different machine - as it installs hardware specific drivers etc.
>
> Subject to getting a standard XP install disk, you can install it on a
> laptop, but it won't install all the drivers for that machine's mobo etc. It
> will work, bit not particularly well. However you can subseuently download
> all the required drivers from the manufacturer.

Depends on the H/W. I installed XP on an IBM netvista recently and no
problems were noted, it seemed to find everything OK.

I understand perfectly what you are saying as I have seen numerous
win95/98 install problems with proprietary obscure hardware in brand name
machines. However the brandname manufacturers these days do go in some
cases to considerable lengths to have their drivers included in the
standard XP installations. In fact I would have to say that I have only
seen problems with HP machines; never with Compaq or IBM machines.

In article <> in nz.comp on
Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:39:38 +1300, <Italian Jobs <>> says...
> On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 21:45:35 +1300, Chris Mayhew <>
> wrote:
>
> >Chris Wilkinson wrote:
> >> Hi there,
> >>
> >> A small ooops meant that WindowsXP was zapped while installing a linux
> >> distro to some spare space (accidentally selected Windows partition to
> >> put linux system on, XP partition zeroed then overwritten before mistake
> >> was realised)...
> >>
> >> The laptop never came with a WindowsXP install disk, so under those
> >> circumstances would it be possible to get the OEM disk for that machine
> >> from the supplier? Its still under warranty...
> >>
> >When I asked about this question a few months back the general feeling
> >was that you couldn't because the notebook manufacturer would have a
> >license from MS to make their own "restore" CD based on a Windows
> >installation and that, that CD was meant to replace the OEM version. In
> >my case, a Dell, the "restore" CD was a modified XP install CD which
> >worked fine when reinstalling on a repartitioned HDD.
>
>
> I have even used my Dell disk on non Dell systems - with the
> appropriate key.

That may be possible in some cases however in some brand name machines
the restore CD is locked to the machine's Bios and won't work on a
different brand of machine.

It's also likely that the CD key of a generic computer with a standard XP
OEM disk won't work with a restore CD for a brandname machine.

Chris Wilkinson <> wrote in
news::

> Hi there,
>
> A small ooops meant that WindowsXP was zapped while installing a Linux
> distro to some spare space (accidentally selected Windows partition to
> put Linux system on, XP partition zeroed then overwritten before mistake
> was realised)...
>
> The laptop never came with a WindowsXP install disk, so under those
> circumstances would it be possible to get the OEM disk for that machine
> from the supplier? Its still under warranty...

If you could find a standard WinXP install disk then you could use that, as
long as you have a valid OEM number on the sticker under the laptop then
there are no piracy issues. A copy of the WinXP disk would also work fine.



--
Mark Heyes (New Zealand)
See my pics at www.gigatech.co.nz
"There are 10 types of people, those that
understand binary and those that don't"

In article <uSnad.2445704$> in nz.comp on
Mon, 11 Oct 2004 04:20:43 GMT, MarkH <> says...
> Chris Wilkinson <> wrote in
> news::
>
> > Hi there,
> >
> > A small ooops meant that WindowsXP was zapped while installing a Linux
> > distro to some spare space (accidentally selected Windows partition to
> > put Linux system on, XP partition zeroed then overwritten before mistake
> > was realised)...
> >
> > The laptop never came with a WindowsXP install disk, so under those
> > circumstances would it be possible to get the OEM disk for that machine
> > from the supplier? Its still under warranty...
>
> If you could find a standard WinXP install disk then you could use that, as
> long as you have a valid OEM number on the sticker under the laptop then
> there are no piracy issues. A copy of the WinXP disk would also work fine.

However, not all license codes can be guaranteed to work with all
versions of the XP install CD.