How do Dell Xp cds work?

[selizo]

Supposedly you cannot use them to install Xp on anything other than a Dell but I recently brought one and requested for a Xp cd. I was fooling around with it and to my surprise, it loads up like any other Xp cd. There seems to be nothing different about it. Dell also ships their driver/application on seperate cds so I don't think they're slipstreamed on the XP disc....

Also I called them and they gave me a free upgrade to Xp Pro which I will install shortly after I exchange my harddriver with Dell. They weren't clear with me over the phone on whether the Home version was to be destroyed or not...Does this mean I get to have two versions of Windows?

[kirbyrj]

Free upgrade to XP Pro...how'd you pull that off (and BTW, I have no idea about Dell CD's...I just wanted to know how you convinced them you needed XP Pro for free ;) ).

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/765 (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=765)

[selizo]

Just give them a call and they'll mail a copy to you. I basically called asking them about a Windows XP recovery disc beacuse I bought a Dell 8400 and it didn't come with one. Then I asked them if there was anything else they could send me and well, thats how I got a free upgrade to XP Pro. If the representative is screwing around with you, ask for a supervisor...

Oh and before anyone says Dell sucks, I have to agree but the price was just too low to pass on :p

$550 for a Dimension 8400
Intel 630(3ghz)
512mb DDR2
40gigs
E193F Lcd

That plus a $220 X800Xl make for one killer gaming rig for the right price :D

[wipeout833]

The Dell unit you have is a nice computer for the money, also I hope someone chimes in with more info on Dell OS cds I am curious to know about them.

[jbog91]

I think it is just keyed in to the special dell motherboard. I tried to install the norton anti-virus on another computer, but it said that it was not a dell computer and blah blah. But I am not exactly sure how it works.

BTW: Do you think they would give me an upgrade to pro? 8200. Two yeears old. Probably not but anyway.

[Drucifer]

We, uh... *used* a Dell XP cd for a customer when their machine died, and we needed to recover the data on it. Basically, built the new machine (absolutely no Dell parts in it all), used the Dell XP cd to install XP, slaved the old drive, all was good. No problems with activation... it was a very surreal experience.

[jbog91]

ooooooookkkkkkkk. trash my idea. :D

[Drucifer]

Yeah... that little experience was very similar to we I used an HP recovery CD (Win95) to reinstall the OS on a Toshiba laptop... needed to add drivers for that one though... I have since reformed my ways, and won't perform those kind of "services" anymore for clients... most of the time.

[Audiochris]

You can use a dell cd to install on any machine. If you install on a dell computer, you don't need a serial key (pre sp2) and you don't need to go through activation. If you install on any other machine, you need a valid cd key and need to go through activation.

[t00thless]

^ audiochris is correct (although i haven't tried a sp2)

[axiom]

I have an HP/Compaq XP Home recovery CD around here. It was odd, but I could not use the recovery CD to reload the OS onto the Compaq notebook computer the CD came with. Perhaps I can use it on desktop machine.

[Obi_Kwiet]

I've had them work perfectly and not at all. It's wierd.

[SJConsultant]

Typically a large OEM will "lock" their recovery CD to the motherboard. IOW, the CD will query certain parameters of the motherboard to see if in fact it is the OEM's system the CD is being installed on.

Because of the "sensitive" nature of what your asking, I cannot be more specific about it since detailing it would reveal how to "unlock" the CD for use on any computer, including not having to activate it after installation. ;)

To be frank, it's quite trivial to unlock the CD. :p

[corrosive23]

You are lucky you even got a cd from dell to begin with. My dell laptop has a 1.2gig folder that is the "recovery cd".

[SJConsultant]

You are lucky you even got a cd from dell to begin with. My dell laptop has a 1.2gig folder that is the "recovery cd".

Check thru your menu options as most OEMs that give you a recovery partition have a utility that can burn the recovery CDs for you.

[corrosive23]

Check thru your menu options as most OEMs that give you a recovery partition have a utility that can burn the recovery CDs for you.
Format c:\ and a reinstall with a VLK version of windows solved everything.

[feverfive]

You are lucky you even got a cd from dell to begin with. My dell laptop has a 1.2gig folder that is the "recovery cd".
Isn't that the truth!! I threatened to send an email to Michael Dell, & the tech rep finally relented (just yesterday). I'll have to see whether I actually get the CD though.

[SJConsultant]

Format c:\ and a reinstall with a VLK version of windows solved everything.

Heh, thats for those lucky enough to have a VLK version. :p

[corrosive23]

Since I technically use it for work, I used a key from our VLK pack

[selizo]

I have a friend interested in buying my Dell with everything except the processor and do you think it would be feasible to install my copy of XP Pro onto another computer? Its currently still shrink wrapped and if I can use it to install on another computer, I would love to be able to do that.

[SJConsultant]

I have a friend interested in buying my Dell with everything except the processor and do you think it would be feasible to install my copy of XP Pro onto another computer? Its currently still shrink wrapped and if I can use it to install on another computer, I would love to be able to do that.

According to the terms of the EULA, it would not be legal to do so since its an OEM copy.

Other problems you may encounter:

1. If the CD is Bios locked, it may not install at all.
2. Even if you do get it installed, you may be required to call into MS for activation
3. MS may refuse to activate the Dell OEM copy if its installed on a non Dell computer

[draconius]

man all you people who said you got it working, I am very suprised.

My only experiences are with GX1xx, GX2xx, and Precision 350 workstations....

Every CD that comes with those things (installed hundreds of them in the last 2 years) will not work in a non-dell computer. It's been that way since at least back with Win2k.

I am curious what dell models you guys had....perhaps to go on the cheap, dell doesn't pay MS the extra bucks for custom builds of winxp, and just has cd's with different labels :p

[selizo]

According to the terms of the EULA, it would not be legal to do so since its an OEM copy.

Other problems you may encounter:

1. If the CD is Bios locked, it may not install at all.
2. Even if you do get it installed, you may be required to call into MS for activation
3. MS may refuse to activate the Dell OEM copy if its installed on a non Dell computer

But it was never officially "sold" to me, I got it from them for free. Does this make a difference?

[Obi_Kwiet]

Is the "lock" part of the ISO file or separate?

[SJConsultant]

But it was never officially "sold" to me, I got it from them for free. Does this make a difference?

A license is a license, read the EULA, reread my post about the possible problems you may encounter, then decide what you want to do.

[MooCow]

You are lucky you even got a cd from dell to begin with. My dell laptop has a 1.2gig folder that is the "recovery cd".When I ordered my Dell Latitude D810 laptop, you choose the OS with two options: with media, or without media. The word "media" is a pretty shitty term they use though. It should be "Operating system installation CD" or what not. I didn't even know what "media" was when I was on the phone with the sales rep, and she was like "you sure you don't need it? Its the WinXP Pro CD".

I have the CD now, but its pretty shitty for any brand name to not even give people the OS reinstallation CD with their systems. I know Micron used to do that back in the day.. that type of shit pisses me off to no end, what do they expect us to do when we need to reinstall the fucking OS?

[Grimmda]

WHOA man notch down the anger there. I don't think that's a typical question they ask. I've had several family members order Dell's and they have always gotten the reinstallation media (and have never known to ask for it). Maybe it was just "one of those reps". Ya dig?

[hulksterjoe]

I have the CD now, but its pretty shitty for any brand name to not even give people the OS reinstallation CD with their systems. I know Micron used to do that back in the day.. that type of shit pisses me off to no end, what do they expect us to do when we need to reinstall the fucking OS?

Its got nothing to do with Dell, Microsoft's agreements with their larger oem customers that use recovery editions are that the operating system can only be supplied 1 of 2 ways.
1) preloaded with recovery disk
2) preloaded with a recovery partition and but not necessarily a 1 time recovery disk creation software bundle.. like pc angel from softthinks http://www.softthinks.com/us/index.php

If the hard drive dies and you havent made a disk then with the appropriate paperwork you can get a replacement media disk, for a few $$

[MooCow]

ALright... I took a chill pill.. sucks either way though. There were times way back in the day when I needed the OS cd and luckily my dad got one from work. Sorry, just bringing up bad memories :(

Teardrop DOS attack patch for Windows98 went bonkers once... traumatized me for years.