Question Regarding Product Key (sticker)

Dj SharK said:

Bill2 said:

There are free programs to burn cd's and dvd's like the one below (I've used for a long time):

CDBurnerXP: Free CD and DVD burning software

Ermm, I'm sorry but i did say that the DVD drive on the laptop couldn't burn. It only reads, doesn't burn. I probably didn't phrase that clearly earlier.


Danny

D'oh! Sorry. I read it no burner as no burning software. I apologize.

FliGi7 said:

Dj SharK said:

Bill2 said:

There are free programs to burn cd's and dvd's like the one below (I've used for a long time):

CDBurnerXP: Free CD and DVD burning software

Ermm, I'm sorry but i did say that the DVD drive on the laptop couldn't burn. It only reads, doesn't burn. I probably didn't phrase that clearly earlier.


Danny

D'oh! Sorry. I read it no burner as no burning software. I apologize.

Not needed, it was nothing. :) While we're talking about burning software, i have a few (on my desktop). I have PowerISO, ImgBurn and DVDFab just to name a few. For ISO, i love ImgBurn though.

NoN said:

You can buy or borrow external CD/DVD burner and plug onto laptop.

it works, it did it on old lappy once to make the recovery disks i used to be not made. Now, i know i have to make restore disk straight away before couldn't burn anymore!

I mentioned earlier that i have no intention to purchase one but i however do have a friend living 5 minutes down the road that could borrow me his external burner (he have before). Since i have no immediate concern or issues with my laptop, I'll not rush into it.


Oh, reps added for all. Much appreciated.

What you want to do is actual the very first step I perform on any family members OEM brand computer. The recovery partition shouldn't be your only method of recovery, as it is stored on the very drive that could die. On systems with burners, the recovery discs should always be made just in case, and then stored somewhere safe.

I always do a clean blank install using my discs. As for the versions, that isn't an issue anymore. You simple delete the ei.cfg file from the disc image and reburn or make a USB flash drive out of it, and you are given a choice of OS versions. You still need to pick the one you have the license for....but you don't need a specific version disc. All discs are the same once that ei.cfg file is deleted.

I would recommend getting all the necessary drivers downloaded and stored on a flash drive first, so once the clean install is done, you can load them up as well. Then, once it is up and running smoothly, I'll pop their key in and activate. After doing this about 25 times on OEM systems, I haven't once needed to call MS to activate, but it is a painless process if you do need to.

DeaconFrost said:

What you want to do is actual the very first step I perform on any family members OEM brand computer. The recovery partition shouldn't be your only method of recovery, as it is stored on the very drive that could die. On systems with burners, the recovery discs should always be made just in case, and then stored somewhere safe.

I always do a clean blank install using my discs. As for the versions, that isn't an issue anymore. You simple delete the ei.cfg file from the disc image and reburn or make a USB flash drive out of it, and you are given a choice of OS versions. You still need to pick the one you have the license for....but you don't need a specific version disc. All discs are the same once that ei.cfg file is deleted.

I would recommend getting all the necessary drivers downloaded and stored on a flash drive first, so once the clean install is done, you can load them up as well. Then, once it is up and running smoothly, I'll pop their key in and activate. After doing this about 25 times on OEM systems, I haven't once needed to call MS to activate, but it is a painless process if you do need to.

Thanks for the tips.

So basically, preparation, planning ahead and prevention is always the best thing right? On my desktop, i have multiple copies of programs, username/password, important documents, etc saved on each and every HDD, external HDD and thumbdrives just in-case one or the other craps out. I learn the hard way when i lost valuable documents a couple years ago due to HDD failure. I pay a LOT of attention when it comes to my desktop but the laptop is more like a dust magnet some days.


Well, i've got to go get some rest now. It's 1:48 AM here now. Thank you very much for all the answers, assistance, response and everything else. SevenForums staff, experts and members never fail to help me every single time.

Have a good one lads and ladies.