Oh, I can just borrow somebody else’s disk
By Charles Miller

Reinstalling the Windows operating system on your computer is already painful enough, but it can be a really expensive hassle if you have been careless and lost the original disks that came with the computer. Since the advent of the Personal Computer people have gotten away with the cavalier attitude of “Oh, I can just borrow somebody else’s disk.” With the coming of Windows Vista those days are all but over.

For many years now, major manufacturers have been selling their computer with “System-locked Preinstallation” (SLP) copies of Microsoft Windows. SLP is an anti-piracy technology that prevents your copy of Windows from being installed on any computer other than the one it was sold with. Ergo, you cannot just borrow somebody’s disk anymore because there is little chance their disk will work on your computer.

If you were sold an SLP copy of Windows with your computer, the good news is that you do not have to worry about entering a product key or activate Windows. The bad news is that if you lose the CD that came with your system, that was probably an expensive mistake.

PCs sold by Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, HP, Sony, and Toshiba all use SLP. Some manufacturers will sell you a replacement disk, one copy per customer, for a reasonable cost. Increasingly though vendors are discontinuing this practice leaving the careless computer owner with no other choice but to pay more than US$100 for a new copy of Windows.

For those Atención readers who might now be rummaging through their boxes and drawers and saying to themselves they do not remember ever having received those disks, well; you are probably right. In an effort to save a few centavos per computer, most manufacturers have stopped supplying those all-important disks. I suppose they justify this by saying that most buyers were loosing them anyhow.

Every new computer I have seen in the last year, those with the new Windows Vista, do not come with disks to restore the Operating System. All of these computers were provided with an inconspicuous piece of paper on which the fine print included instructions on how to make your own disks.

A popular method for doing this is provided by a special program installed on the hard disk when the computer is shipped from the factory. The program guides the user though the process of burning several CDs or DVDs so you will have the disks if you ever need them. If you fail to do this, that could be a hundred-dollar mistake.

The aforementioned software is designed to run one time and one time only. If you start the process of making those disks and cancel because you do not have any blank disks to use, that could be a hundred-dollar mistake. The program will not permit making a second set. The program may take more than an hour to create those important disks and you need to stay there in front of your computer. If it goes into hibernation during the process and fails to resume making the disks, that too could be a hundred-dollar mistake.

Needless to say, if you delay trying to make these restore disks until you really need them because your computer is not working, then it is probably too late. That is almost definitely a hundred-dollar mistake.

The two immutable facts here are, first, if you keep your computer for several years there is the likelihood you will need those disks at some point. Second, if you do not have those disks you will likely have to pay for a new copy of Vista.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.