You can order Dell computers with or without CDs. Look for “with media” when ordering. In that example, there is no extra charge. I suspect it might have something to do with institutional orders that have no need for 100 XP discs.
That would be my advice as well - contact the manufacturer.
I just recently went through a nearly identical recovery (IBM desktop, no OS CDs, they had to send them to me). Not sure what they’d have done if the machine hadn’t still been under warranty (Hopefully they’d have provided them anyway!).
God, how did you resist?? That Dell Instant Credit thing is what got me. I was just messing around seeing how powerful of a laptop I could create. When it was all done, I had this kick-ass custom job infront of my face with a huge “Dell Credit” button next to it. I couldn’t not buy it.
Okay, so that’s 1 CD for the OS and 17 CDs for assorted crap?
The licences need to match the version (Home, pro, or Media center) as well as the source (OEM, Retail, or corporate) the keys from any combination of the above are incompatible and will not install.
Example an XP pro corporate key will not activate an install from an OEM or retail disk.
Yup, go with the 3 DVD’s, I always do with my customers.
Something anyone may be interested in (granted its an extra expense) is a program like Acronis True image and an external hard drive. The program creates an image of your hard drive to the external. Set that external aside. If windows gets hosed, the acronis disk will boot your machine and load the image from the external drive to restore your system. This way you can set up your machine the way you like it and the image will set you up with your apps the way you like them in the event of a restore.
I am building a bid for a 2 terabyte RAID setup and the backup tools to keep all of the office machines at a small engineering firm backed up to network attached storage as well as common locations for project files. Machine gets hosed, no problem, reload backup and it taps right back into the storage for its working files. Same principle as above just on a slightly larger scale 
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Something else to consider and IIRC dell offers this service, split the drive into another partition. Save your pictures and such on the second partition with windows and apps on the other. This way if windows dies, reload windows, your personal files are still on the second patition.
That wasn’t quite my point. It was more that I think the first thing to do when buying any computer from a vendor like Dell is to blow away the operating system and only install the bare minimum (drivers and the like) that you need.
Maybe I should’ve included a smilie or something.
I agree with your methods and it will produce a far more trouble free machine.
Sorry I misunderstood, I generally try to play it straight in GQ PC threads, and not assume snark unless its painfully obvious.
Often the restore partition has an option to burn those disks hidden some where. You have to dig for it some times. I havent worked on a dell lappy in a few so I’m not sure about that one.
Got it. I was going to say the 17 CDs of crap was the OS.
BTW, the HP machine has the hidden partition mentioned earlier also.
At least in the older Dells that I deal with from time to time, the restore partition is simply a Ghost image of the original drive state. It’s not like you are given some cool option to reinstall only the bit that broke.
When you boot one of those machines, hold down Ctrl+F11. It should give you all of the scary warnings, and then once you agree to them, it will start up Ghost and calmly restore your machine to its factory state in ten or fifteen minutes.
This may involve buying another license for Windows XP (assuming that’s the OS you’re reinstalling after the wipe) - I think it’s the case that the license keys on OEM COA stickers won’t activate an ordinary installation, even if it’s the same version.
Not true, I do this all the time. As long as its just an os reinstall I have recieved zero flack from MS activation as long as it was truly an OEM install. Just last night I did run across a cracked/cloned xp pro install that MS had flagged as pirated.
I have a Gateway laptop that wouldn’t boot. Of course it came with a set of recovery CDs and not an XP disk so using the recovery console was out. So, I borrowed an XP home disk, just to use it to boot me into the recovery console and guess what, I can’t get past the password area 
Bottom line, there is a great free utility called Bart PE (Google it) that is like an old DOS boot disk. It will let you boot into XP, connect to a network drive and offload all your important files. It also does 3000 other things to get your PC running again.
If you are going that route, download one of the many Linux-on-a-CD distros (Knoppix is the one I have laying around), boot to Linux and use a USB device to download the important stuff.
Saved the good stuff from my wife’s laptop that way when it gave some nasty Windows error on boot, and Toshiba’s only answer was to wipe the HD.