Lost your Windows discs? How to get replacement media, legally

Brink · Jan 5, 2012

By Ed Bott | January 5, 2012, 3:48pm PST

Did your most recent Windows PC come with reinstallation media? Many do, some don’t. But contrary to what you might have read, creating replacement Windows discs is easy, and every major PC maker will supply backup discs, sometimes for free. I have details.

Read more at:
Lost your Windows discs? How to get replacement media, legally | ZDNet

Hipster Doofus · Jan 5, 2012

Didn't realise that Comet were charging for discs. As the guy in the article stated, "Bollocks".

Reminds me that I must create some recovery discs of my own.

Night Hawk · Jan 5, 2012

Most OEM manufacturers will have a utility to create a recovery disk if they don't provide any with a new machine. It may not be installed on the new machine when first bought but can be found at their support site. If your new desktop or laptop comes without any it's a good to look into that option.

JMH · Jan 6, 2012

Microsoft claims UK retailer sold counterfeit Windows recovery CDs

Microsoft today filed a legal complaint against Comet, a UK retailer which the company alleges sold 94,000 sets of Windows Vista and Windows XP recovery CDs without Microsoft's blessing. While Microsoft called the CDs counterfeits, Comet says it was acting in good faith, supplying customers with recovery discs when Microsoft would not.

Microsoft noted that the recovery CDs were sold to customers who had purchased Windows-loaded PCs and laptops. Comet operates 248 stores as well as an online shopping site.

“As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom,” Microsoft associate general counsel David Finn said in a statement posted on Microsoft's website. “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products—and our customers deserve better, too.”

Microsoft claims UK retailer sold counterfeit Windows recovery CDs

Night Hawk · Jan 6, 2012

ZDNet also has a similar report as well.

Is UK retail giant Comet really a Windows pirate?

By Ed Bott | January 5, 2012, 4:21am PST

Summary: It’s not unusual for Microsoft to file lawsuits against PC makers who pirate its software, but its case against giant UK retailer Comet is different. What did Comet do that was wrong, and why has Microsoft hauled them into court?

Microsoft has filed suit against a major UK-based retailer, accusing Comet of “creating and selling” more than 94,000 counterfeit Windows recovery CDs in 2008 and 2009.

It’s not unusual for Microsoft to file lawsuits against PC makers who pirate its software or against resellers who offer copies of Windows that are clearly marked “not for resale” or have been diverted from the proper channel.

The full report can be looked over at: Is UK retail giant Comet really a Windows pirate? | ZDNet

gregrocker · Jan 6, 2012

We had an inquiry yesterday about another retailer selling these OEM Recovery Disks:
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...ks-using-branded-windows-7-a.html#post1732013

Night Hawk · Jan 6, 2012

The poster there was simply explaining that there are both branded and unbranded OEM disks. A vendor like newegg will carry the unbranded OEM disks for System Builders. They can't turn around and start selling HP, Dell, or any other branded disks however.

FranzB · Jan 14, 2012

Brink said:
By Ed Bott | January 5, 2012, 3:48pm PST

Read more at:
Lost your Windows discs? How to get replacement media, legally | ZDNet[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Brink, for that link. Very useful.

theog · Jan 14, 2012

Comet sold for £2.

Anglo-French electrical goods retailer Kesa announces plans to sell off its troubled UK-based Comet stores for £2 to a private equity firm.

BBC News - Comet electrical stores sold by Kesa for £2

Night Hawk · Jan 15, 2012

Someone bailed out real fast there!

patio · Jan 24, 2012

This should be a sticky as the question comes up so frequently...

Night Hawk · Jan 24, 2012

Good point! patio It makes a good reference for sure!

WolfSoul · Jan 24, 2012

Aren't I glad I got technet...

Night Hawk · Jan 24, 2012

That's great! But for those who buy laptops, desktops without recovery disks and end up needing a new drive or Windows gets trashed they often ask how to see Windows installed fresh! The article explains the legit ways to go about things.

WolfSoul · Jan 24, 2012

It IS a common habit to not give customer any kind of CD/disk Then again.. the average PC user wouldn't know how to install Windows withoiut the help of someone who does know

Night Hawk · Jan 24, 2012

New machines, note the operative words, "USED TO" provide recovery disks with both laptops and desktops coming with Windows already preinstalled. Then within the last few years less and less models would see any. Instead the manufacturer either prepackaged or posted up on their support site a utility you would use to create them from the hidden recovery partition containing the software options along with all the drivers.

For the novice or for someone simply lacking any the use of another person's installation disk but still using the same product key from the sticker will work allowing you to borrow a disk as long as the disk itself was genuine since the product key on the sticker is the actual OEM license for that one machine only.

The article here proves continually to be useful since many a novice user will ask other questions where I simply end up pointing to the article! Fortunately for most with an OEM pc they can usually acquire a recovery disk for shipping costs only when providing the manufacturer or dealer with customer information to order if not use the utlity to create a disk.

Bertison · Jan 28, 2012

WolfSoul said:
It IS a common habit to not give customer any kind of CD/disk Then again.. the average PC user wouldn't know how to install Windows withoiut the help of someone who does know

.... No such animal as an "average" PC user. Perhaps you mean a NOVICE PC user?
I don't mean to be rude, far from it, but computer usage is such a broad church. The intelligence, ability and personality of each individual ensures that.

Most people even reading the instructions on the outside of a Windows disc box, will be capable of figuring out what to do with the disc. A novice will almost certainly be installing into a new PC or laptop. The instructions upon the screen are easy enough to follow.

I was a new user, once. So was every person reading and contributing to this forum.

bigcitycat · Jan 28, 2012

I don't understand Microsofts problem here. They can't be activated without a valid product key anyway.

Bertison · Jan 28, 2012

Brink said:
By Ed Bott | January 5, 2012, 3:48pm PST

Did your most recent Windows PC come with reinstallation media? Many do, some don’t. But contrary to what you might have read, creating replacement Windows discs is easy, and every major PC maker will supply backup discs, sometimes for free. I have details.

Click to expand...

Read more at:
Lost your Windows discs? How to get replacement media, legally | ZDNet

Some time ago, I needed to remove all the useless, space-wasting factory crud from my HP lappy and make a fresh install of Win7/64. On the UK "Micromart" magazine forum, I received good advice from a techie working in a large international PC outlet. I used his advice and I pass it on here:

Backup all the stuff you intend to keep.
Your original Win7 Product Key is needed. On lappies, it is on the base. For a PC 'Big Box', it should have been a sticker in your original Windows disc case. If not, it may be stuck to the inside of the PC case.Write it down.
Borrow a genuine Win7 disc, OEM or Full. (Luckily, I had a full copy from my PC.) The disc MUST be same O/S as original: Win7/64, 32, Home Premium/Utimate/Professional/whatever.
Install the disc and follow the instructions for a complete new Installation. This will remove everything and prepare it for the new installation.
At activation, when asked for the Product Key, type in the one you wrote down, from your original O/S.
Follow the instructions on screen, for a shiny, spanking new installation.
Reinstall your backup stuff.

bassfisher6522 · Jan 28, 2012

My question is; what do you do when the recovery software and hidden OS partition has been deleted. How do you recover to factory condition with out those two options. I'm working with a client right now that has a Toshiba laptop with just this problem. There has to be a way to recover to factory condition with out ordering the recovery disc's, mind you, that only comes with the OS and no drivers, which you have to download separately.

Lost your Windows discs? How to get replacement media, legally

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