JesseJ1935 Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Reference my recent problem posted in the Highjack, etc. section.It occured to me that I might have had to do a reinstall of my daughter's computer, luckily this has turned out not to be the case, and there is where a big problem, for me, crops up.It is one of those computers that came without any CD's, the OS is hid up on the hard drive somewhere. I assume that to reformat the drive I would have needed to find XP Pro and click on it, but what about if the hard drive failed, would this mean nipping down to the local PC shop and buying XP all over again? Or is there some way I can copy it to a CD or DVD?Hopefully it is something I will never have to do but, as the Boy Scout motto goes, I'd like to be prepared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 If it is on a hidden partition, then you should either have got a Recovery CD provided, or there should have been instructions on how you can create your own.What is the make/model and where did you get it from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesseJ1935 Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Hi Boris.My apologies for the delay in answering, other non-computer related problems cropped up and took precedence.The name on the front of the computer is 'Power Gainward', that doesn't tell me much as I can't find any reference to them building computers, only various cards, etc. From what my son-in-law tells me I gather that it is a Heinz 57, built for him on the instructions of his son, by someone in the Birmingham area. He has no more information other than that, I have asked him to contact his son to get more details but this is not going to be easy as they are not talking at the present time for reasons I won't go into here.Everest Home Edition has provided me with the following details which I hope are of some help.Computer: OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS Service Pack SP2 Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2) Direct X 4.09.00.0904 (Direct X 9.0c) Computer name Alan User name AMotherboard: CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1466 MHz (11 x 133) 1700+ Motherboard name Abit KD7(-RAID) (6 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DIMM, Audio, Lan) Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8377 Apollo KT400 System Memory 256 MB (PC2100 Registered DDR SDRAM) BIOS Type Award (01/03/03) Communications Port COM 1 " " COM 2 " " ECP Printer Port (LPT1)Display: Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 (64 MB) 3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 Monitor Compaq V75 (17" CRT) (907CF24AD442)Multimadia: Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio ControllerStorage: IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller SCSI/RAID Controller Virtual DAEMON SCSI Controller Floppy Dive Floppy Disc Drive Disk Drive ST360021A (60GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100) Partitions: C: (NTFS) 5185 MB (107 MB free) D: (NTFS) 52046MB (39598 MB free)Network: Network Adapter GlobeSpan USB ADSL LAN Modem (169.254.147.32) " " VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter Modem Intel ® 536EP ModemI hope this is of some help to you, and apologies again for the delay in getting back to you. If any more info is required please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 A Heinz computer supplied with an "unusual" XP O/S seems likely to be, shall we say, less than legitimate.I've been building computers for a long time and, believe me, it is almost impossible to legally obtain Microsoft operating systems in anything other than what you can buy from a normal supplier. All other methods (recovery discs, hidden partitions, multiple licences) are for the big manufacturers only so you would only get them on a well known, branded model.If you don't have an XP disc or at least a disc giving you the means of accessing the hidden information, I think you're going to have a difficult time reformatting and re-installing. Even if you have a product key and manage to do it, you will then be presented with problems when you activate the new setup with Microsoft. Their activation procedure can detect the origins of the system and, if it isn't all present and correct, you are left with an expensive box of junk.You could, of course, buy a new copy of the O/S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 You could, of course, buy a new copy of the O/S.Or, once the system is clean, take a full backup on some external device, e.g. CD-ROM or DVD. This would allow you a full system restore in case of an emergency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesseJ1935 Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Very many thanks for your help and advice. Making a full back up seems to be the easiest way out and I'll get on with it, though, as suspected, as far as the OS disc is concerned it looks like a trip down to the local PC shop should the system die.Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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