Posted on 04/18/2007 1:51:51 PM PDT by TChris
I just got off the phone with the manufacturer of the new notebook computer I just bought, Acer, and the publisher of the operating system installed on that notebook, Microsoft. You see, since I just purchased a brand new computer with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, I was under the impression that I should actually receive Windows Media Center Edition 2005. But it turns out that I was woefully naive about buying computers.
That's an odd statement for me to make, since I am a computer professional at least eight hours per day. I support Windows for a living. I build PCs, I configure servers and I help over a hundred end users with their Microsoft Windows machines. I thought I knew something about the subject.
Nope.
It turns out that a manufacturer selling computers with Windows on them doesn't actually have to provide Windows, except as it's configured from their factory. They don't have to include the Windows CD you may have thought you paid for with your new system.
My first call was to Acer. I asked the friendly support guy if I could get my Windows CD, since I paid for a computer with Windows. He asked me if I had made the system recovery disc set, either on CD or DVD. I told him that I had, but that I would like the actual Windows installation disc itself. He put me on hold for a few minutes, then returned to tell me that the system recovery discs were the only media he could provide.
I wasn't sure if he understood what I meant, so I explained it in greater detail and asked if I could buy an actual Windows CD for my system. On hold for a few more minutes, he returned and said I could buy a new windows license and get the CD that way, for $99. Never mind that the computer I just paid hundreds of dollars for already has a Windows license.
You see, there are certain things you can only do with a bootable Windows CD. In fact, many of Microsoft's own knowledgebase articles instruct the user to boot from the Windows CD, then follow other steps, in order to solve a particular problem. If that CD is not available, then those solutions are simply not possible. The only way to fix a system problem with Windows is to use the system recovery discs and return the computer to the way it came out of the box!!!
If any updates, hotfixes, configuration changes, etc. cause a problem with Windows, if any spyware, adware, viruses or trojans infect your computer in such a way that the Windows CD would be needed to remove them--a very common occurrence in my field--then you're simply out of luck. Microsoft and Acer (HP/Compaq are apparently the same) collectively flip you the bird and tell you to restore the computer back to the way it came from the factory.
Hope you have current backups of all your data. Hope you don't mind redoing all the system changes and application installs that took you hours upon hours of time.
Hope you like that half your hard disk is partitioned for on-disk recovery, leaving you with only half the space you paid for for your actual use. Hope you like the FAT32 operating system partition on your Windows XP computer. Hope you like the long list of bloated services and applications the OEM pre-loaded on your computer, 'cuz they're baaaaack!
Hope you don't mind that hundreds of Microsoft knowledgebase articles are useless to you, since the needed, bootable Windows disc simply doesn't exist.
I talked with customer support at Microsoft, and they confirmed what Acer said.
"There is no bootable media for OEM installations of Windows for home users."
"Tough noogies."
"Kiss off."
"Tell someone who cares."
"We've got a few million other customers who haven't got a clue, so why should we care what you think?"
Well, as for me and my hundreds of customers, I'm officially becoming the biggest anti-Microsoft crusader on the planet. This is the last straw for me.
I will do everything within my power to promote every single Microsoft competitor in every market in which they participate.
Giving your own customers the shaft should have negative consequences, and I'm going to make certain that it does, to whatever degree I can. That may not be much, but so be it.
Sorry you did not know that. All the big players have been that way for years. That is why I build and use full disks.
Whenever you buy an OEM computer that “comes” with Windows ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT MODEL COMES WITH A SYSTEM RESTORE DISK. That is how all CREDIBLE computer makers do it. That was you can restore Windows if you need to.
What's that mean?
You didn't know this.. this is SOP for most PC manufacturers. The only thing they have to provide is a unique registration key. XP Media Center gives you the option of burning your own back-up disk but PC providers don't offer them.
What I’ve always done is make a copy of an original MSFT installation CD from someone with an MSDN subscription. Never used the Dell restore CD. Always hated their bloatware anyway.
Same here. I buy a laptop and then separately buy both Xp Pro & Office Professional.
I could care less what they install with the laptop. Usually it is not what I want anyway.
I am officially with you. Your timing is impeccable. Recently bought a Dell laptop with Windows XP installed. Received NO system disk or recover disk. My hard drive just recently stopped working and I cannot get into it because, unknown to me, it was set up with a FAT32 partition. Now, I have to buy a recover disk and a new hard drive, lost all data, and I have to reconfigure.
So do I, which is why I had never heard of this. OEMs still provide the OS disc for Commercial machines; all the Dell and HP workstations we get come with one.
If I could have built my own notebook, I would have.
This was the second home OEM computer purchase I have EVER made. The first was in about 1990, and it was a 386DX33 with a 120MB hard disk, MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1.
I had no idea they had foisted this crap over on everyone. I can't understand why there weren't torches and pitchforks over it!
That’s true — anyone who buys a computer with a Microsoft OS really doesn’t “get it”.
It really ticks me off royally that I would have to pay for Windows twice to get the install CD. To me, that's more than a little dishonest.
I do the same with my desktops. I build the computers from scratch (I get to select my own HD, vid cards, MoBo, etc.) and then load my own SW.
FAT32? Really?
NO.
Always make sure that model comes with an XP Install disk.
Agreed. :-(
I personally would buy a laptop with nothing more than the chipset/video drivers if I could.
Sorry I was not clear. I build machines and buy a full version of windows for it.
Two words for you:
Ubuntu Linux!
Almost all of the apps (for free, no less) and none of the hassles, and security holes.
-R
It should, and if it does, that folder should essentially contain all of the contents on the CD. Whenever the system prompts you to enter the CD, browsing to that folder should work.
Even those are not as useful and free of extraneous crap as a good full version disk.
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