Used notebooks and rebuilding OS?

[teleport]

I am thinking of getting a Notebook off eBay. But none seems to ship with installation CDs. Is it a feature of Vista that those are no longer required if something like the HDD fails? Or is it enough to phone Microsoft with the code on the sticker to get an installation disk sent out? Thanks in advance.

[Saab Dastard]

You have a very valid point - it is a problem if the HDD fails and there is no installation CD.

Unfortunately, it's "not Microsoft's problem", and they are very unlikely to send you an installation CD.

They may sell you one, but at RRP for the product! You might be better trying to get and OEM one from the laptop Manfr., who might do so for goodwill.

But really it's down to the ebay seller to provide whatever came with the laptop. And even then, so many manfrs only provide a recovery partition on the HD that there is nothing for the ebay seller to pass on.

The lack of installation media from the vast majority of manfrs. is a shocking capitulation to MS bullying (in the name of anti-piracy, of course).

SD

[green granite]

A lot of vista m/cs come with an image in a separate partition on the disc which you can recover from or you can burn it to a disc.

[Mac the Knife]

Why bother?

Install your favourite Linux (or BSD or Solaris or whatever) distro.

Just because you don't have an OS from Microsoft doesn't meant the end

A bit of mild "getting used to" followed by a lifetime of freedom.

:ok:

[Feline]

Coming from a somewhat different direction from that of my Cape Town Compatriot MtK:
Why bother with an second-hand obsolete laptop? If it's more than two years old, the battery will be shot (and a new battery will likely be about the same as you pay for the laptop). And laptops lead a hard life - so you may find that other bits and pieces may not have much life left in them (think hard disks and CD-ROM drives). The screen will be dimmer than it used to be (and considerably dimmer than a new laptop). The screen hinges won't be quite as firm as they used to be ... Want me to go on?
I too used to go to the 2nd hand market for laptops - but the price of new ones have come down so much that it's no longer really worthwhile to buy 2nd hand.
And it sorts out the problem about OS system disks - because it will still be under war-and-tee!

[Jofm5]

It is also worth knowing that if you know your key for vista you can use any installation of vista to re-install should you have the media from another machine.

Windows will not blindly copy on DELL drivers if the media is from a DELL PC it will copy on only those that are appropriate - then you apply your key to validate the installation.

If you do it a number of times it may require you call the Microsoft help line to validate your not doing anything corrupt - in my experience a quick confirmation of change of machine etc is enough and your given a new key to continue with.

[twiggs]

As has already been explained, windows disks are rarely sold with any pc or notebook with windows pre-installed.

If the second hand notebook has a working windows os installed, you can clean it up (ie remove unnecessary software, malware and files) and it should be ok for you to use, providing it was genuine to start with.

Another option is to take it to the notebook manufacturer and see how much it will be for a reinstallation. If you are lucky and it is still under warrantee, they may do it for nothing, otherwise they may do it for a fee that is substantially less than buying a new windows disk.

Third option is to buy a new windows disk. As Saab said, you could try OEM or you could invest in a full version. The viability of buying a new OS is dependent on how much you paid for the second hand notebook, although a full version can be used on a different system when you are finished with the first one.

[mad_jock]

I would go for the linux option as well.

If you want to see what its like I would recommend Fedora 10 make a live OS on a memory stick and boot of that and have a play with it.

The Perfect Desktop - Fedora 10 (GNOME) | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials (http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-fedora-10)

If your not linux savy this article will walk you through getting all the software you need.

I used to earn a living off dealing with MS and since NT it has become more and more a pain in the arse to not only maintain but also to support.

Just because LINUX has this horrible UNIX thing sitting behind it, these days its just as easy to point and click as any MAC or Windows operating system. You really don't have to get into the nitty gritty command line stuff if you don't want to. IF you do there tons of advise on the net about how to do what ever you want.

If you don't pay windows games and just want internet and office applications, some sort of photo editing and entertainment watching it is more than sufficient and free.

My little aspire one sitting in front of me with Fedora 10 has 30 odd DVD's ripped onto it, a load of music, all the harry potter speaking books. A pair of usb speakers in my bag and it still has 50 GB free. And cost 200 quid new. The equivalent Windows version was 300 quid and after having played with one it seems way way slower than my linux OS.

[JamesT73J]

I've got an 8 yr old Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600; it's got a 700mhz processor, and 256mb RAM. I installed Debian Lenny using the XFCE desktop environment and it works like a charm. Learning Linux is a pain, but there's a point when you realise that there is a vast repository of experience and knowledge on the 'net, and after a bit of effort to get it all setup, the result is a rock-solid, nicely performing laptop that frees up the Shared PC that the Missus likes to use as a media centre.

The only downside is the Flash API for Linux requires about 1Ghz of CPU grunt, so youtube is pretty choppy. Everything else is great.

The alternative (I tried it) was Win2k SP4; with suitable antivirus and firewall protection - unfortunately these are rather resource-heavy these days, and left little RAM overhead, to the extent that the laptop didn't run well at all.

It's definitely worth considering if you've got old kit that you want to breathe new life into. It's worth thinking about what you use them for; if it's basic stuff, definitely consider alternative operating systems.