On 03/25/2010 09:27 AM, Felix Miata wrote:
On 2010/03/25 04:51 (GMT-0400) John E. Perry composed:
I have a laptop (hpdv6000) ......
1-Anyone who buys any system new should insist that true installation media either be provided, or an available option, as insurance against the many HDs that die prematurely, ... Check with Lenovo about availability of true installation media, which should be available at nominal cost as an alternative to "restore" media.
My hp (:-) laptop came with both a recovery partition and a dvd. It wasn't until I bought a new HD and tried to install xp after partitioning and installing opensuse that I found out that "recovery" doesn't mean "installation". The dvd told me that it was going to "restore my system to the original software configuration". I had no idea that meant "wipe the new HD, make a recovery and a single system partition, and copy xp onto the new system partition". Previous episodes with hp have left such a bad taste in my mouth that it didn't even occur to me to ask about true installation media. I'll look into that, thanks.
2-Systems that ship with no installation media often have some utility that enables you to burn your own installation media from the installed system.
It did. The dvd I burned using the utility is exactly like the dvd that came with the laptop.
3-AIUI, utilities exist, not provided by Micro$oft, to modify installation media, that enable installation from any compatible original media and any valid installation key, compatible meaning e.g. a Professional key must be used with the Professional XP media.
OK, so I do indeed have an xp install disk that I bought for my wife's computer, but others' comments seem to say that won't help. I'll look into the link you gave to see if it might help. Thanks. I just hope that something can overcome the fact that I'm completely unable to find anything like an installation key, and the restore process doesn't even ask for a key. I can't use my wife's key, of course -- she needs her computer, too. jp -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org