Computer OS question

Grim/Don

Grim/Don

Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
1,221
I'm looking at picking up a dirt cheap, used Dell for my daughter to use (She's moved in with her father and doesn't have a computer) There's a place local that has some great buys, but they only sell them with blank hard drives. What's involved in getting the computer up-and-running? I've got two other Dell's that I can get files off of, if that's possible (and all the support disks that came with them).

I was planning on giving her the one out in the garage, but it's out there because it died, and I'm not sure why (won't even boot up) I suspect the hard drive, but I'm not completely certain; and if it is, then I'm still looking at the same scenario as above.

Thanks in advance.
 
it's not really too bad but it is time consuming with dial-up. basically all you need is a boot disk and a cd of your operating system of choice. i can't remember all the steps but if you do a search for "how to format a hard drive" you'll find some pretty good instructions. as i remember it you boot from your boot disk{sorry} and then i believe you copy your sys files to your blank hard drive. then reboot from hard drive and load your cd rom driver. after that it gets easy as you pop in your windows 98, or whatever and basically follow the instructions. the only problem you may run into is finding drivers which may not be on windows. oh the time consuming part comes in when you have to update using dialup, takes forever. bottom line it's not hard and it's pretty satisfying when you're done. and remember if you screw up just start again. good luck,ahgar
 
if you have the CDs and they're compatible to the computer (some older models won't support XP, for instance) i think compusa reformats and reinstalls the OS etc for like 150 dollars. my hard drive fell out of my laptop, and i was going that route, but didn't have the disks. give them a call if there's one nearby.
 
Because of the cost of aquiring an OS that can start anew from a formatted hard drive (most computer systems will send you a repair disk, or nothing but backup files installed ) it is hard to find. No surprise why they are selling them cheap. It's a $200+ addition. Or you may find an upgrade OS disk.

I suggest looking at a CHEAP online reseller, like www.TigerDirect.com. Whole systems with a warranty for $300...

Coop
 
Cheap way to get Windows XP is to buy an OEM copy from NewEgg. To qualify for OEM price, you'll have to buy a computer part at the same time - a $7 floppy drive would qualify, or a new hard drive for your computer in the garage. OEM XP is about $85, buying retail XP is about $95.

Each copy of XP is individually copy-protected and registered, so re-using an XP copy would be very difficult, and illegal.

Re-using a copy of Windows 98 is more of a "gray area" legally, and there are no technical factors to prevent you from doing so.

Copying a hard drive from another computer would be nearly impossible, unless the two computers are identical. Installing an OS from scratch would be faster and easier than trying to repair all of the software and drivers that would no longer work.

Good Luck,
-Bob
 
Thanks for all the advice. I've talked it over with the wife, and I think we're going to go get the cheapest system that Best Buy has on sale. We'll replace our second Dell with that, then give my daughter the older Dell.
 
Bob W said:
Each copy of XP is individually copy-protected and registered, so re-using an XP copy would be very difficult, and illegal.
Click to expand...

Not exactly. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can legally use a non OEM copy of Windows XP on a computer even if you used to use it on a different one (who got out of order for example). You have to activate XP on this second computer and Microsoft will know you start using it again, but that's all, it's perfectly legal. Think about the other way arround: you buy a computer, you buy a copy of XP (non OEM so not linked with that computer), you install and run it for a while then your computer dies and you buy a new one. Why would you buy a second copy of XP? I have never bought a computer + Windows OEM package exactly for this reason (that and to boycot the companies who encourage the Microsoft monopol by not selling "empty" computers).
It is also possible to use a free OS (like CentOS Linux), it works fine but it isn't exactly user friendly, and the Linux USB drivers can drive you crazy.
 
You could be right about XP licensing - I've only installed the OEM version.

And I agree with your assessment about Linux. It's free, but not easy to configure. Additionally, whatever software Grim/Don's daughter needs for school will most likely be Windows-only.

-Bob
 
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