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Every computer will allow you to make at least 2 copies (some will allow unlimited copies.)

The last 2 notebooks I bought (HP XP, and Toshiba W8) allowed a single restore media copy, then the option was gone. If my copy was bad, tough luck. I've never had to use them, and have absolutely no faith that they would work.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but i don't know of anyone ever having gotten a useful OS replacement free from microcrap.

[Neidermeyer]

I’ve received OEM’s from HP in the last year for corporate laptops that were purchased used but still under the extended warranty .. the original purchaser (a hospital) replaced W7 with XP ... I have also downloaded good OS images from getintopc.com ... they’re a legal site ,, just images , no keys or crack tools.

[MarkL]

FWIW, I've done it on a Dell Laptop. I didn't want to use the Dell installed system, thanks to having all sorts of crap on it, so I downloaded an ISO from MS and then manually downloaded all the drivers I needed from Dell (again, the Belarc Adviser is wonderful for letting you know what HW and drivers are installed, as well as your product keys) so I could do a really clean installation.

Mark