I am thinking of starting a small business fixing, repairing and upgrading PCs. Most PCs come with a Windows operating system and a license tag on them, but no CD. Sometimes the user has no idea where their recovery CD is. Do I have to have a licensed copy of Windows (XP, Vista or Windows 7) in order to wipe the machine and start over if there are major issues? How can I use the PCs license(the one on the tag on the machine) so that I don't have to buy another copy of Windows?Is there a CD I can buy that would allow me to use the license on the machine for reinstalls? Is there alicense which will cover this type of computer repair?

HiSorry, but this is not a question that we can answer here.You will need to contact the OEM manufacturer that pre-installed that copy of Windows on that computer for help. When an OEM Systen Builder pre-installs a copy of Windows, they are completely responsible for any support or licensing issues for that system.You can also contact Microsoft if you have any further questions.Microsoft Contact InformationProduct Licensing Know The FactsHope this helps. Ronnie Vernon MVP

So in other words, if I have a name bran PC(Dell, Compaq, etc) call them to get a copy of Windows to update the machine. There should be no charge for that copy of windows should it?

HiLike I stated before, when an OEM Systen Builder pre-installs a copy of Windows, they are completely responsible for any support or licensing issues for that system. Whether they charge for that, or not is completely up to them. Computer Manufacturers' Contact Information Ronnie Vernon MVP

So in other words, if I have a name bran PC(Dell, Compaq, etc) call them to get a copy of Windows to update the machine. There should be no charge for that copy of windows should it? Mr. Rowe - Exactly. I have had a couple of different experiences with this sort of issue in the past. I may be able to shed some light on it. Dell will generally ship a replacement CD or DVD (depending on the version of Windows) to a client - no charge. A client of mine bought a used Dell box that got horribly mangled by spyware and needed a complete nuke and pave operation to set it right. I called Dell up, gave them the service tag number and asked what version the computer came with. Within minutes - the client had a copy of XP Home on the way to his house - completely free. Also included was a second disc that contained all of the Dell specific crapware that usually is preinstalled on a system. I installed the Dell help feature and left the rest of the stuff off. It was sent regular mail and arrived in approximately 3 days. Installing it went about as smoothly as any XP install - except I didn't have to enter the product key nor did I have to activate afterwards. Now then, HP, on the other hand has some weird policy about charging shipping for their recovery/reinstall DVDs. Their arcane formula has something to do with how far it has to travel. Depending on where you live, it can be anything between $12 and $30. Not quite sure if that would have gotten me a shipment with Priority or Next Day Air.. Also, from the sound of things, the disk(s) in this case didn't sound like it was for an install CD. It sounded more like a restore disk. You insert the disk, boot and it spends the next hour or so restoring files from it's compressed format. It also comes with the usual plethora of preinstalled crapware you'll need to remove. Gateway likewise uses the restore DVD feature. Not sure how much, if anything they charge for the disk, but the image it installs is a mess. I did a restore on one of their laptops and found both Norton AV and McAfee AV installed concurrently... The machine would barely run. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that when Windows 7 is released, the OEMs are likely to keep on doing what they find successful - as long as it's not in violation of their license with Microsoft. If they can squeeze a few bucks out of a guy, they will. Good luck!

Mr. Rowe,I have experience the same issue several times. If the customer has the license sticker on their PC, you can just use any OEM CD to reinstall and then use their product key. I hope this helps.

Mr. Rowe,I have experience the same issue several times. If the customer has the license sticker on their PC, you can just use any OEM CD to reinstall and then use their product key. I hope this helps. It would seem then that a customer with factory-installed OEM O/S should be able to obtain that OEM CD... Which offers the benefit of convenient in-place restoration and repair tools... Yet that does not seem to be the case. Many such customers can only get a so-called Recovery Disk, which is quite different. So, I am not convinced...

For OEM preinstalled systems the key on the sticker is not the actuall key used for theoffline activation of OEM restore /pre install disks. This key can be found with key finding software and matches the motherboerds bios. Anyway, if you have this key and the right liscence certificate from the restore diskwich belongs to themanufacturers motherboard there will be no need for online activation.

Hi Sorry, but this is not a question that we can answer here. You will need to contact the OEM manufacturer that pre-installed that copy of Windows on that computer for help. When an OEM Systen Builder pre-installs a copy of Windows, they are completely responsible for any support or licensing issues for that system. You can also contact Microsoft if you have any further questions. Microsoft Contact Information Product Licensing Know The Facts Hope this helps. Ronnie Vernon MVP but, there are legal OEM disks of windows XP and vista for sale, so if somebody assembles his own PC, how do he install with another DVD and his license?

I recently went through this when I restored someone's Compaq.They had purchased the restore set from HP, but the drive still had the restore partition on it.Either one would work. Youboot to the restore partition by pressing F10 when the computer is turned on. When booted,restore gives you the options of doing a soft or hard (re-format) install. The full, hard restore restores the computer to the out-of-the-box condition.I had to do a hard restore. There are some XP service pack conflicts that prevented the soft recover from working. HP has service packs that need to be applied before the XP service packs.This worked so well I tried it on my HP Presario. I used the restore disks I had made when I first had the computer. These worked the same as the purchased restore disks had, and also recreated the restore partition, which I had destroyed in a reformat operation.For HP and Compaq, use the restore disks or partition if available. Otherwise, if you are going to upgrade anyway, it is probably better to do a fresh install.

There are different ways to remove the bloat. Explaining these methods in this forum would not be feasable.Microsoft permits the creation of one backup copy for the purpose of re-instaling the software.In your backup copy you may not want to include some of the trial software that comes with OEM disks. To do thisyou will need to have a knowledge of the structureof a basicwindows disk.Most of these disksare designed to be persistantly activated without going online.To perserve this feature you must have an idea of how offline activation works. XP and vist use a similar method for persistant offline activation with a matching key and mother board and other files.For example I have a hewlett packard pc that had preinstall. The install directory was provided in the windows folder so I madea disk from this completely omitting the extra software.

but, there are legal OEM disks of windows XP and vista for sale, so if somebody assembles his own PC, how do he install with another DVD and his license? See these links:OEM System Builder License andAuthorized Distributors and this.

but, there are legal OEM disks of windows XP and vista for sale, so if somebody assembles his own PC, how do he install with another DVD and his license? See these links:OEM System Builder License andAuthorized Distributors and this. Are you implying that the OEMdistribution of Windows that I bought as part of a build-your-own PC kit from TigerDirect isn't legal?I was under the impression that, at the time, they were an authorized OEM distributor.

but, there are legal OEM disks of windows XP and vista for sale, so if somebody assembles his own PC, how do he install with another DVD and his license? See these links:OEM System Builder License andAuthorized Distributors and this . then none of those Windows are legal? http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-System-Builders/dp/B0018RCADO/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1249602147&sr=8-11 http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Ultimate-64-bit-System-Builders/dp/B0015CCG4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1249602147&sr=8-3

How thatpublishedinformation might be interpretedis up to you.I am just staying with the topic of this thread. Are you aware that a substantial preportion of consumersystemsare actually proprietary in design? For example, this manufacturer claims to supply nearly one thiird of all the world's notebooks, with the top 10 PC manufacturers among their customers. To service such computers as Mr. Rowe plans, the considerations reach all the way to the O/S itself, and that matter is also complicated.

How thatpublishedinformation might be interpretedis up to you. I am just staying with the topic of this thread. Are you aware that a substantial preportion of consumersystemsare actually proprietary in design? For example, this manufacturer claims to supply nearly one thiird of all the world's notebooks, with the top 10 PC manufacturers among their customers. To service such computers as Mr. Rowe plans, the considerations reach all the way to the O/S itself, and that matter is also complicated . I don't know about notebooks, but statistics about PC are ever missleading Some vendor like (to invent something) Dell may claim that owns 20% of total market, but it does not includes PCs assembled by users, or small PC vendors, and on my city and country, maybe less that 1% of PCs are trademark ones. 99% are assembled by end users or small vendors, and OEM windows is the only practical choice. Also, Those "rescue CDs" do not respect users separation between data partition,and windos partition. they delete the partition table, so even if you have the rescue CD, cannot use it. And cannot wait for a week for the OEM vendor to send you a windows installation CD. Is crazy.

The rescue disks are marketed for novice users with little or no experiance in restoring or repairing an installation. A simple way to restore if something goes wrong without disgruntledcustomers demanding their money back for the PC they feel they were taken for.So to keep novice users happy without returns and so third party software companies can market their software for example the video game "Chuzzle Deluxe".

I work in a computer repair shop. I have activated many OEM licensed Windows Vista PCs with just 1 Windows Vista Home Premium Retail DVD. Some will require phone activation, but the majority can be activated online by re-entering the Product Key. So it can be said One Windows Vista DVD is all you need to reinstall the OS of OEM PCs with Vista. As for Windows XP, you will need the OEM CD. Retail, Volume License and OEM CDs are different. But a google search will throw up results that only the setupp.ini is the difference in what constitute a OEM, Retail or Volume License version.

I work in a computer repair shop. I have activated many OEM licensed Windows Vista PCs with just 1 Windows Vista Home Premium Retail DVD. Some will require phone activation, but the majority can be activated online by re-entering the Product Key.So it can be said One Windows Vista DVD is all you need to reinstall the OS of OEM PCs with Vista. As for Windows XP, you will need the OEM CD. Retail, Volume License and OEM CDs are different. But a google search will throw up results that only the setupp.ini is the difference in what constitute a OEM, Retail or Volume License version. That is very useful info. Next, how do you obtain the oem and/or chipset specific drivers?

What you are saying lornranger isto activate vista on any computer with a sticker on the cabnit all you need isa vista dvd?

That is very useful info. Next, how do you obtain the oem and/or chipset specific drivers? Download them from the manufacturer website. If they are not available, use device id identifier programs such as Astra32 to identify the hardware, and use google search to download. The hardwares such as sound, graphic, video, chipsets, wireless, LAN are not hard to find. It is the modem that is.

All those drivers would alsobe on the restore disk.

What you are saying lornranger isto activate vista on any computer with a sticker on the cabnit all you need isa vista dvd? Yes. Done that on Dell, Lenovo, HP laptops and desktops.

What you are saying lornranger isto activate vista on any computer with a sticker on the cabnit all you need isa vista dvd? Yes. Done that on Dell, Lenovo, HP laptops and desktops. Some well known systemboard manufacturers provide minor custom enhancements according to their oem customers' specifications. Things like, say I/O port.bit implementations for the power button, and so forth. Maybe those things can be communicated to Windows via ACPI BIOS, or maybe by way of oem device drivers. Have you found that Astra32 picks up and reports these slight differences? When you have completed the Windows installation, is the result fully featured as originally shipped?

Some well known systemboard manufacturers provide minor custom enhancements according to their oem customers' specifications. Things like, say I/O port.bit implementations for the power button, and so forth. Maybe those things can be communicated to Windows via ACPI BIOS, or maybe by way of oem device drivers. Have you found that Astra32 picks up and reports these slight differences? When you have completed the Windows installation, is the result fully featured as originally shipped? Yes. All works if I install the necessary drivers. I use Astra32 only if the manufacturers does not have the drivers available for download (EG: Sony old desktop and laptop) or the motherboard is unbranded. For some Sony and Toshiba laptops, the FN keys does not work if the device drivers are not installed. Astra32 has no way of picking up this. In this case, nothing can be done unless the customer buy a set of recovery disc. After completing installation, the result is a bare WinXP installation. No drivers will be installed unless the windows device drivers already has it. The installation also does not contain the bundled applications (powerdvd, windvd, etc). For one thing, Dell PCs has a set of LEDs either on the system back or the front panel for troubleshooting. These LEDs do not need any drivers.