Buying new desktop

[Timberleaf]

I have been buying desktops for decades and I am wondering when this new move by companies to NOT give you a reinstall OS disk with your system began? You can spend easily 5k on a new system and still not get a reinstall OS disk. With the advent of viruses, hard drive failures, hardware replacement, etc, no OS disk is just dumb. That means you would have to buy the OS every time you wanted / had to reinstall.

 

Companies are making it clear it is NO LONGER an option. Why? (besides the obvious... MORE money)

[longbreak754]

The practice of not giving a physical OS disk where a OS is pre-installed has been around for years. The OS installation files are still provided but are saved onto the hard disk.

 

It is essential that users read any material that comes with the new PC as it often contains the instructions on how to save a 'hard' copy of the OS installation files to 'mobile' media such as CD/DVD/USB drives etc. The process is usually part of a 'wider' process that all users should do when they get a new PC or do a new OS install - they should create a set of 'rescue' disks and a set of 'backup' disks

[W2DR]

All you need to do is make a full backup of the entire drive when new. That gives you not only the OS but all the drivers, etc, as well. Save that as the "virgin" copy and then create periodic full backups thereafter. Easy, and far batter than an OS disc. Many new computers don't even have an optical drive so the disc would be no good anyway......Doug

[XYflight]

Companies are making it clear it is NO LONGER an option.

 

If I was buying a gaming/sim PC, I'd go to a reputable independent PC store and get them to build me one to spec, then I'd ask them to put in an identical size hard disk and clone it. That way you've always got a backup operating system to fall back on, plus you could write backup images regularly to the clone drive as an extra safeguard. In addition, an independent computer store will often supply an operating system disk with custom built PCs if required.

 

Also, dont forget that there's an operating system serial number sticker on every PC. So all you need do is to borrow an install CD if need be and activate the install with the serial number from the case. Much easier with Windows 7 than Windows 8 or 10 of course, as there are more W7 disks around.

[loki]

With Windows 10 you can create a Recovery Drive yourself.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10/how-to-create-a-recovery-drive-for-reinstalling/58df9c7d-84de-4652-9952-8bac34abc6c5

 

It is also possible to download disc images for Windows from Microsoft's site and create your own install disc.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally/

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

 

Using these you would lose any drivers and third party applications the desktop OEM has included, though the critical ones can usually be downloaded from the OEM's site. Not quite as convenient as having a reinstall disc, but you don't need to buy a new copy of Windows.

[CRJ_simpilot]

That means you would have to buy the OS every time you wanted / had to reinstall.

 

No, you could buy the OS disk once and reuse the key on the same hardware only.

 

This might help. http://itstillworks.com/burn-recovery-partition-dvd-7275435.html

 

 

Edit- Loki made a good point. You could download the OS and use your product key on the computer.