So I’m working on fixing a laptop that has reached the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Every time I try to restart it, i don’t even make it to Windows, just go straight to the BSOD. So, I’m trying to run chkdsk /r on it, but in order to do that, I have to access the recovery console. In order to do that, I need the Windows XP disc. So I look in my files, and guess what? Instead of a disk I have a drawing of a disc that says “this computer does not require an operating system CD. Try the following methods to restore your computer:” and then proceeds to tell me to do things that require me to be able to access Windows.
So, two questions: Why did they decide not to give me an XP disk with this laptop?
and, is there any other way for me to access the recovery console?
If uyou hold down <F8> as it boots, you might be able to get a better list of boot options, including ‘boot to last known good configuration’. if that doesn’t work, you’re probably going to have to borrow someone else’s XP install Cd and use that to boot to recovery console in order to perform a repair install (which should leave your data intact)
It’s perfectly legitimate to do this - the Windows Install CD isn’t the license, so you’re allowed to use someone else’s. You do have to use a CD that is the same release (i.e. contains the same bundled service packs, etc) as the one from which your system was originally built - the Certificate Of Authenticity label on the machine may be of assistance in identifying this.
Oh, and they didn’t give you an install CD pretty much for reasons of cost - your machine will have been installed from a preconfigured disk image and the OEM license pack that Dell bought from Microsoft would have come cheaper to them without CDs.
Normally it’s stuck to the bottom of the laptop, or the side/back of the desktop case.
Am I right in thinking that Dells have a ‘hidden’ partition which contains an image of the C drive as shipped, which somehow can be copied across?
Sure, but pennies add up when you’re shipping thousands of units. I expect it’s more than just a couple of pennies anyway - it’s the difference between a CD, manual, license sticker, packaging vs just the sticker - it might also just be one of the deals you get when you buy massive bulk OEM licenses.
What other reason than cost saving might there be?
Some of them do, but restoring from this resets everything to the state it was when it left the factory - losing all the data, settings and installed programs.
Not in my experience. Not for basic access and basic maintenance anyway. With all the updates Microsoft put out, it’s impossible. What you do have to do is have any special drivers necessary (e.g. SATA, RAID) either slipstreamed or available on floppy. When it comes to reinstalling Windows, then yes, you’ll need the Dell XP set, which is matched with the license key and some sort of system check.
Although you’re right about it being cheaper, I doubt the packaging is the saving. Off-the-shelf copies of XP have a ‘manual’ which is flimsier than the ones I get through my letterbox from Dominos. The saving is surely in Microsoft providing you with a system to copy thousands of disc images to hard drives ready to be put into computers, with relevant drivers installed etc. (and all the free trials etc. - does anyone actually use Works?)
When I bought two IBM desktops several years ago, each came with a hidden partition used to restore the O/S to factory default settings. Of course, if the hard drive really is at fault I would be SOL. IBM at the time offered recovery CDs just for this reason. I contacted them and they sent to me at no charge the complete recovery CDs for Win2000, WinXP Home and WinXP Pro, even though one machine was WinXP Pro and the other was Win2000.
I’ve since restored both machine several times using the recovery disks (making notes beforehand of any tweaks I would have to manually restore).
Perhaps the computer manufacturer has recovery disk available.
Are you sure that’s how it works? I would have thought Dell would still have to build their own disk image after building, installing and configuring their own prototype system of whatever model they’re producing.
I recently paid extra ($10 I think) to have CD’s shipped as an addition to my new Dell. Well, XP crashed hard a few months later from competing spyware infestations, and when I went looking in the box residue for the CD’s, they were nowhere to be found, and not included on the packing list.
After some frustrating calls to Dell (who would not replace the CDs that they forgot to ship :rolleyes: ) I did a restore from their hidden partition.
Just hit F5 at the Dell logo and follow the prompts to restore the machine to factory state from the hidden partition. It worked like a charm. Assuming your HD hasn’t itself died, then this is a good last-resort option.
My Dell Laptop came with an actual Windows XP CD. And not just one of those “Recovey” CDs. It was an actual Windows XP CD. It also came with another CD that contained all the individual drivers and software for my laptop.
Dell isn’t the only culprit. My wife just got a new HP desktop, which my daughter’s boyfriend set up. Something just popped up on it offering to burn restore disks. It looks like this machine didn’t come with them either.
It takes 3 DVDs or 18 CDs, which may be why they aren’t getting shipped automatically. Cheaper to make the consumer do it.
I went through the motions of configuring a Dell laptop (but didn’t follow through and buy it) - it does look as though an XP install CD is now standard issue.