Different manufacturers seem to approach this in different ways. In the
past, Dell has supplied separate driver and application disks. You may
get 4-5 disks with the modem driver and some apps like Roxio being
separate. On a reinstall, you only use the disks you need. Drivers
change of course, so driver disks are of limited use. I've never had any
trouble getting any kind of driver from HP or Dell, who maintain very
good repositories.
The new trend to use recovery partitions or to roll your own recovery
disks seems like a step backward to me.
I installed Win7 on an HP last year (She had lost her HP Vista disks)
and I was pleasantly surprised to see I didn't need to find a single
driver. Win7 comes on a DVD, of course, so I guess they have a lot more
space for drivers
Linux has gotten better as well. I don't do that many installs. but I
haven't had to search for a Linux driver in years.
Some manufacturers claim that crapware allows them to reduce the price
of their machines, but I don't know whether it's true or not.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Windows Licensing
From: computer9f <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, July 18, 2010 2:03 pm
To: [log in to unmask]
You are absolutely correct. If you use a "branded" OEM of Windows, it is
all crammed on one disk - OS and all the hardware drivers. I wanted to
reinstall my HP OS, but I did NOT want all the crapware that came with
it (this was several years ago). I was able to get an UNbranded OEM OS
disk, but HP was extremely uncooperative about even providing
information about the drivers for their hardware (the hardware should
have COME WITH drivers to operate it - entirely separate from any OS).
It took me about three months to find all the drivers. HP said that they
sold some of the space on the disk that I had purchased to vendors for
their crapware/advertising-ware (i.e. sold the same disk space twice -
once to me and once to advertisers (which is what the crapware actually
is).
When I finally got everything installed, it worked fine....except the HP
machine died within a few months after that. Turned out there was a tiny
fan on the processor, but HP had put NO case fan at all in the machine
and it just burned up.
Now I have a PC that I built myself in a LianLi case so I have a driver
for every part. I bought a retail version of Windows, which I can use if
I upgrade my PC substantially. I'll probably never need to actually buy
a new one again, but if I do, I have my own OS and I will not buy a
branded PC again that comes with drivers and OS locked together.
If you have an UNbranded OEM OS disk, you can use it on any machine -
you just have to use the OEM code that is on the side (or back) of your
particular PC. However, you won't have any drivers for your hardware -
you have to find them yourself (if you were sold hardware with no
separate drivers disk).
If you ever want to change to Linux, for instance, you also need the
drivers for your hardware. I would refuse to buy any hardware that
required drivers without the drivers being provided on a disk, separate
from any OS. If you buy the hardware, you are entitled to the drivers -
they are part of the hardware you purchased, which can be used with a
different OS, should you so choose.
It is not hard to build a PC. You can research your parts online (start
with the mobo and be sure every part goes with it). There are many sites
that review hardware. Watch for sales on sites like newegg. If you don't
want to assemble it yourself, you can take the parts to a computer shop
and let them assemble it - but WATCH them do it, or ask them to guide
you in doing it yourself on their bench. That's probably about $200 to
$300 - less if you give them your old PC. You may want to install your
old hard drive as an aux drive, or get a case for it as an external. If
you are happy with your DVD recorder, re-use it. An aluminum case stays
MUCH cooler and be sure to load it up with big high-quality
(ball-bearing) case fans. Get a larger case than you need to allow good
airflow between every part. Install your hard drives in every other
slot, instead of crammed together. Tie up the cords out of the way of
the airflow.
AnnaSummers
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 4:51 PM
Subject: Re: Windows Licensing
I also service Dells (and others) for a living. The Company specific
installs of Windows usually contain chipset and other drivers that are
specific to that brand of computer. If you install say an HP branded
windows on a Dell, you'd have some drivers to fix before it would work.
The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com
The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com
|
