Who provides OS media with laptops?

[postmortemIA]

Hello,
I'm considering buying a new laptop as a gift and I'd like to get Windows 7 DVD media in case re-installation is needed. often laptops/desktop come with so much crap that reinstall is best thing to do right away.

Now, confusing part is I don't know whether OS DVD comes with laptop or not. I asked guy at BestBuy and he's pretty sure it won't be in the box for any laptops.

Dell - at least there's order form
http://support.dell.com/support/top...llcare/en/backupcd_form?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Toshiba - I can't find anything on their site

Sony - I can't find anything either

Any experiences?

 

[Rottie]

all I know Dell should have Dell Restore DVD along with Windows OS DVD/CD and sometimes it is in hard drive restore partition like HP/Compaq does. If it doesnt come with DVD/CD you can call Dell Customer Care for DVD/CD Restore with Windows OS but they might charge you.

 

[postmortemIA]

Since Win 7 comes with decent burner tool and DVD playback in media center, there are about 0 programs I care about that come preinstalled with Win 7. I'd rather have them be gone.

 

[corkyg]

Lenovo indicates OS with some systems. My T60 came with a DVD.

 

[alexruiz]

HP, Toshiba and Acer don't come with OS media.

If you need the OS disk, PM and I'll ship you a copy. I got OS that way before here at the forums, now I can help also


Alex

 

[bamacre]

Dell Outlet, and you can get a Previously Ordered New if you don't want to get a refurb'd.

 

[jjmIII]

Ya, just get a burnt copy of Win7 and re-install with the key on the laptop.

 

[corkyg]

Ya, just get a burnt copy of Win7 and re-install with the key on the laptop.

That works as long as it is of the same ilk - i.e., version/level.

 

[Mattster]

Most Lenovo systems, even if they come with a recovery dvd set, will allow you to create your own set of discs once. Most people don't even know about this feature, which is a shame.....

 

[postmortemIA]

Most Lenovo systems, even if they come with a recovery dvd set, will allow you to create your own set of discs once. Most people don't even know about this feature, which is a shame.....

I got Toshiba, it lets you make restore disc once or more times, but not Windows 7 itself.

 

[MJinZ]

From my own purchases:

Asus -Yes (proprietary reinstall)
Alienware - Yes
Gateway - No

 

[Rifter]

dude, just download a torrent of it and install it with your key. I just downloaded win 7 home prem OEM last night so i can re-install it on my laptop when it arrives next week, im assuming it wont come with media and the first thing im going to do is pull the 250GB drive and put in a 500GB and a fresh install. Just make sue the version and OEM or retail is the same.

 

[WackyDan]

Pretty much all the OEMS only provide factory recovery media, and many don't even send the disks with the system. There is typically the ability to burn your own set from a stored image on the hard drive, typically hidden in the service partition. You can call and order the media, but they can charge you a fee for the order. I know of no major OEM that will send you a windows disk to do a native install from.

 

[coolVariable]

Lenovo indicates OS with some systems. My T60 came with a DVD.

Let me tell you something: Lenovo Recovery Disks SVCK A$$.
HDD on a friend's laptop needed to be replaced.
"Reinstalled" WinXP from the recovery disks ... and the installation is totally shot.
Even simple things, like detection of USB devices, does not work.
They can shove their "recovery media" where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[WackyDan]

Let me tell you something: Lenovo Recovery Disks SVCK A$$.
HDD on a friend's laptop needed to be replaced.
"Reinstalled" WinXP from the recovery disks ... and the installation is totally shot.
Even simple things, like detection of USB devices, does not work.
They can shove their "recovery media" where the sun doesn't shine.

How about up your rear instead? You make every attempt to piss on Lenovo... Yet I've done countless recoveries on a ton of ThinkPads and the only time I've had issues was if there were other issues with the system,,, which were rare. + if you are recovering from a vista loaded drive to XP you should DBAN the drive as the XP recoveries can get hosed for some reason.

 

[Parasitic]

Dell does, at least on their Vostro and XPS lines. I guess with the Inspiron lines they opted to go with the "more" user-friendly way of having a hidden partition for restores.

 

[coolVariable]

How about up your rear instead? You make every attempt to piss on Lenovo... Yet I've done countless recoveries on a ton of ThinkPads and the only time I've had issues was if there were other issues with the system,,, which were rare. + if you are recovering from a vista loaded drive to XP you should DBAN the drive as the XP recoveries can get hosed for some reason.

It was an XP installation/recovery onto a CLEAN drive.
Lenovo recovery media SUCK (and if you like them you can stick them up your ass!)
To start off: 7 CDs!?!?!?!?!? I want to CLEAN install WinXP without any of the Lenovo CRAP! All I should need is 1 WinXP Installation CD!!!!!
FUCK Lenovo!

 

[thefreeaccount]

When I bought a refurbished tablet from the Fujitsu ebay outlet, they sent me the OS disk, driver disk, and the disk for the software it came with (OneNote).

ps - always consider donating old/unused OS licenses to a local school or charity; usually they need licenses much more than new hardware.

 

[jjmIII]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jjmIII
Ya, just get a burnt copy of Win7 and re-install with the key on the laptop.

That works as long as it is of the same ilk - i.e., version/level.

The Vista/Win7 DVDs have every version on them....the code determines which one it installs.

 

[Parasitic]

It was an XP installation/recovery onto a CLEAN drive.
Lenovo recovery media SUCK (and if you like them you can stick them up your ass!)
To start off: 7 CDs!?!?!?!?!? I want to CLEAN install WinXP without any of the Lenovo CRAP! All I should need is 1 WinXP Installation CD!!!!!
FUCK Lenovo!

To be fair Lenovo is not the only computer that does that. Compaq and Toshiba both did.

 

[Parasitic]

When I bought a refurbished tablet from the Fujitsu ebay outlet, they sent me the OS disk, driver disk, and the disk for the software it came with (OneNote).

ps - always consider donating old/unused OS licenses to a local school or charity; usually they need licenses much more than new hardware.

This only works with retail, individual copies. You can't donate OEM licenses without a transfer of computer ownership and you can't donate academic versions to non-individual entities that do not qualify for the discount.

 

[WackyDan]

It was an XP installation/recovery onto a CLEAN drive.
Lenovo recovery media SUCK (and if you like them you can stick them up your ass!)
To start off: 7 CDs!?!?!?!?!? I want to CLEAN install WinXP without any of the Lenovo CRAP! All I should need is 1 WinXP Installation CD!!!!!
FUCK Lenovo!

Grow up. All you need for a virgin XP install from Lenovo is this.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TVAN-ADMIN#TBSA

The more you know....

 

[darkamulets]

Ya, just get a burnt copy of Win7 and re-install with the key on the laptop.

I thought the same thing when I bought my HP DV7T but the license for Windows 7 Pro it brought was for OA which seems to mean online activation. They use a master key or something and you can't even activate over the phone. Sadly I'm stuck with the OS image unless I want to purchase another license entirely as you can't activate at all from the key provided. HP also provides no option for media, last time I'm buying HP for sure but the deal was to good for the specs.

 

[VirtualLarry]

When I bought a refurbished tablet from the Fujitsu ebay outlet, they sent me the OS disk, driver disk, and the disk for the software it came with (OneNote).

ps - always consider donating old/unused OS licenses to a local school or charity; usually they need licenses much more than new hardware.

How can you do that when the COA is on the chassis?