Reinstalling Windows XP is painful enough, but it becomes a real hassle if you have a system originally built by a large OEM and you can’t find the original disks that came with it. With Windows XP, the installation media for this type of system uses a technology called System Locked Preinstallation (SLP) to prevent its use on a system other than the one it came with one from the same manufacturer and the same product family. [Updated per comments.] The good news is that you don’t have to enter a product key or activate an SLP system. The bad news is that if you lose the CD that came with your system, you’re out of luck.
Or at least you were. I’m not sure how long this Dell Support page has been around, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it earlier today:
Dell Customers can now request a set of backup discs containing the factory-installed operating system as well as the device drivers and utilities specific to your system.
Requests are limited to one (1) set of backup discs per system purchased.
The backup discs requested must match the operating system that was factory installed on the original order.Please note that Dell will provide you the most up to date Resource disc available, containing the latest drivers and diagnostic tools currently being shipped on new systems. Due to the frequent updates, this Resource disc may not have all the drivers needed for your specific system, especially if it is over one (1) year old.
One widely held belief is that Dell and other big OEMs only provide so-called recovery media that reinstalls the original factory configuration, complete with trial programs and other crapware. In my recent experience with Dell Dimension and Inspiron computers, this is no longer the case. As of July 2004, the disks shipped with those brands include the full operating system and a separate disk with drivers and utilities. The option to get back to the original factory installation using the hidden recovery partition is still there, but only via the Dell PC Restore by Symantec utility (press Ctrl+F11 at startup to access the partition).
If you’ve got a Dell (or any OEM PC), your best bet is not to lose the disks in the first place. But if they do go missing, it’s good to know this option exists.
(If you own a PC built by a different royalty OEM, such as HP, Gateway, Toshiba, Lenovo, or Sony, help me out. Was it purchased after January 2005? If so, did you get OS media or just recovery media? Does your OEM offer an option to get a replacement disk? Add a comment with any details that might expand this post beyond Dell.)
I got an HP notebook in December of 2006. For that reason, I could send in for Vista upgrade discs, which I did. The initial setup was with XP Media Center. I bought the restore discs which cost $30 extra (but are preselected for you by default on the purchase page). The restore discs do just that — restore the system to how it was sent to you by HP, “crapware” and all. These particular restore discs, powered by SoftThinks, are obnoxious as it takes about 5 hours for it to do its job — about 3 hours of copying some sort of (I presume) highly-compressed drive image of an XP system in factory imaging mode, and 2 hours of a script which reinstalls every single application. (First boot gives you a tantalizing glimpse of a bare XP system with just an icon for XP Media Center–but then it goes away for a blanking image telling you to not interrupt the installation process and the system may reboot. The system reboots 17 times in the process.) Then it creates a recovery partition. (Restoring from the recovery partition takes only about 45 minutes.) No option to choose which apps to install before hand. No clean XP disc.
In contrast, the Vista discs sent to me by the “Express Upgrade” differ in that HP actually sends a full Vista install disc, and a separate drivers/software/”crapware” disc, and amazingly enough, this drivers disc actually presents you the option to refuse installation of any software/crapware or driver you don’t want. I suppose this is simply a consequence of HP not having a SoftThinks powered recovery program available for Vista, but they should realize the Vista Express discs are far more convenient than the five-hour recovery program.
Oh yeah, HP does offer a way to buy recovery discs after the fact, if you didn’t order it with your PC…
It’s hidden incredibly deeply in the HP site, but I put the link where my name should appear in the comments.
Thanks a lot for the info, I just put in my request for a reinstall CD (didnt get one when I received my laptop), so hopefully this should all work out!
One thing I’ve noticed about the Dell reinstall disks is that the ones I’ve tried seem to work interchangeably. For example, I have two Windows XP Home disks (pre-SP,SP1) and it installed on the original Dell Desktop (both cds), the original Dell Laptop, and a really old Dell Desktop (pentium II optiplex), but didnt work when I installed on a Compaq or HP. It looks like, to me, that these Dell install disks aren’t too picky about what systems they install on as long as they are dells. Anyone else notice this too?
Since at least 2000, Dell has used the OS, Drivers, Applications trio of disks. At one time they stopped sending them with consumer systems, but have started again, if you request them from the sales person or on the web. Recovery partitions are really big in the consumer systems (DUH) and not used very often on business systems and gaming systems.
There is no 100% perfect way of OS restoration, but Dell seems to give the best of both, quick, full (including crapware) recovery, or slow but custom recovery with the CD’s.
I think Andrew is correct – I’ve got lots of Dells at work, of all ages. I have a number of XP discs, and I haven’t a clue which came which which systems. It doesn’t seem to matter – any Dell CD seems to work on any Dell system.
Anyone know whether the same is true of Vista? I’ve not got any work machines with it yet, but it would be useful to know whether I can carry on using the installation CDs interchangeably.
cant reload my dell xps 600 computer as lost resource disc help
thanks
I asked Dell for replacement discs for my Dimension (3yrs old) they gave me a premium rate phone number to call and said I could buy the discs.????////They must have a different policy stateside.
Gil Higham
I tried using ctrl f-11 and it beeps and dosent let me continue.
Robert. Ctrl+F11 will only work if you actually have a recovery partition. It’s possible you don’t have one. Why don’t you contact Dell support and get them to help oyu figure it out?
CTRL F11 doesn’t work on Vista Home Premium. You have to tap F8 after the bios load. Choose Repair Your Computer. Then Choose Dell System Image Restore. This wipes your drive completely so be sure you back up your important personal files.