Windows OS CDs versus Restore CDs part 2

Some other manufacturers put all your backup on a "recovery partition" on your hard drive.  This means that you really don't get all the available hard drive space that you thought you would.  It also means that, if the drive fails, your recovery partition goes down the drain at the same time.

If your manufacturer (and there are some big names here) doesn't provide a CDROM or the way to make one, call their Tech Support immediately and order it, before you need it.  Some will sell it to you (maybe they just charge a shipping charge) via their Tech Support if you order it while your machine is still under warranty.  

What happens if you don't get it and your hard drive dies or gets messed up?  You wait until they get around to shipping it.  Downtime, plus blowing away all your data and configuration.  If you are out of warranty, you might have more trouble getting the recovery CDROMs.

Back to my original comment -- the manufacturers who provide original CDROMSs are the ones who'll get my business.  Why? Because if I need to restore a few files to restore the OS, I can do it.  I can even boot an original Windows XP cdrom and go into a recovery console.  I can run the Windows system file checker, whose first step says "insert your windows CD."

With an original CDROM, I can do a fresh installation without all the add-on software the manufacturer put on the computer.  And, finally, I can do an upgrade to the next Windows version as a "fresh install" and not just "upgrade the existing installation."  The fresh install is the most stable way to upgrade.

Without your operating system CD's or recovery CD's, your option really is to take for computer repairs and probably involves buying a new retail package of Windows.

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