They Don't Give Install Disks Anymore????

N

neilshapiro

New Member
Hi --
I bought an Asus G50-VT with Vista pre-installed. There was some sort of glitch while I was overnighting the download of a long file. Anyway I wound up at what I can only say was the blue screen of death except now it's white. It told me that Windows could not restart and I should insert my installation disk to repair a busted file which it also named. Looked and I had no installation disk, indeed I did not have any Windows disks at all included with the machine. I called Asus Tech Support. They told me that Microsoft no longer lets OEMs ship the windows disks. Although there were two disks called "recovery disks" the TS person said my only option was to hold down f9 to rebootr and WIPE THE DISK AND REINSTALL WINDOWS! So I lost all my data and have spent all morning recovering.

Was Asus right? You do not get install disks anymore even though a system message tells you to insert it??? I only have a few days in which I could return this computer. Do other manufacturers like Sony or Hewlett Packard supply Windows Vista installtion disks with their machines? Or is Asus right? If it is just Asus that does not do this I feel I need to return this right away.

Can someone please help me? THanks!
 

My Computer

System One

Hello.

Yes Asus is right, it is essentually a disk with a windows image on it. I too have the G50-VT A1 and found that I didn't even need the second recovery disk to restore windows. You do however need the first recovery disk and the driver disk to do a full restore to an OEM state. There is also a recovery partition on the second HDD
 

My Computer

System One

Hi Neil,

No, that's not true.

Oem's make a lot of money by not shipping the install discs - they cost a few bucks each - hologram, fancy scalloping, pretty box.

Multiply that by tens of millions of machines - serious money.

Also, if they shipped the discs, many would install from them , wiping off the oem branding apps., and more importantly - the trial apps.

Oem's get a cut of the trial programs sold - multiply that by millions - you get the picture.

You have a product key on the side of the machine - that is the license you paid for. The installation media itself has no intrinsic value. You can borrow someone else's installation dvd and make your own copy. Some people are driven to downloading the o/s from the net.

As long as you use your valid product key - that is the important thing.

Be aware that if you use the key on the sticker - you may need to call the Oem to activate it.

You may also need to back up the specific drivers for your machine, or download them from the Oem website. Make sure you have them on external media, e.g. a cd first.

I am sorry to say that all the major Oem's do this - there is no possible benefit to the customer.

Dell ship an installation dvd of sorts - I believe it has the Repair functions ( system recovery options ) that you would get on a proper install dvd - but it also includes their proprietary bloatware.

If you only need a disc with System recovery options, you can download the .iso from here and burn to a cd with an .iso burner like this one - do not format the cd- if autoplay pops up, just close it.

http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

View attachment Burn CDCC.zip

Hope it helps
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
Thanks very much. That is incredible to me that they don't supply the disks anymore. I have only had this computer for two days so I did not lose all that much data, but it was surely inconvenient just the same. I will download that recovery center iso and hopefully if this happens again it will help. I'm going to also sign up for one of those online backup services. Wow. I am just astonished.
 

My Computer

System One

isnt it annoying , you pay for a copy of windows......but you dont get one!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 @ 4Gig / Titan Fenir
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    4GB OCZ PC2-8500C5 DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward GTX260/216 SLI
    Sound Card
    Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    western digital raptor 10000rpm sata
    PSU
    OCZ Modstream 700w
    Cooling
    Titan Fenir
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Gamer
    Keyboard
    Razer Reclusa
    Internet Speed
    8mb
My IBM T42 Refurb did have a cd either, which BTW, I don't really care since I have many of them from before. Besides, it came from something even better, a ghost image that I can use in case I need to recover it via Acronis.

I do believe you have a right for a disc even if they give you the run-around or you can not even do that?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Q9650 w/CM V8 Cooler...
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i SLI FTW... Latest Bios & Drivers
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX260
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22" LCD Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Velociraptor 160GB Samsung Sata 750GB Maxtor External 160GB
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer
    Case
    Thermaltake Speedo Advance
    Cooling
    Air Cooled... See CPU
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Internet Speed
    Comcast 6MB Broadband
    Other Info
    Linksys WRT54G router
when u reinstall vista but dont format the drive all data for that use IS saved!!! USER.old folder :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway ML6437-est. laptop
    CPU
    Intel (R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T230 @ 1.86GHZ /1.87 GHz
    Motherboard
    factory installed/user customized
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    onboard
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320gb wd caviar
    PSU
    factory
    Case
    factory chassis
    Cooling
    factory
    Mouse
    touchpad factory
    Keyboard
    factory
    Internet Speed
    AT&T DSL
    Other Info
    currently certified as the fastest computer in the city of 38761
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