RMM Loc: Suburban New York

There's always a way...

ngc1514 Loc: Atlanta, Ga., Lancaster, Oh. and Stuart, Fl.

Tiger Direct opened up a huge store about 40 miles up I-85 from Atlanta. Haven't been there yet because 15 miles up I-85 is Fry's and it's tough to drive past Fry's!

I love the smell of electrons in the morning.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I don't. That generally indicates a problem.

TchrBill Loc: Houston, TX

When you talk about the disks that came with the machine I assume you mean the so-called recovery disks many manufacturers ship with their machines that is essentially a ghost image that can be used to return the machine to its original state. I never buy machines off the shelf so I really don't have any experience with those disks. When I install a new OS on a computer I prefer to do so on a clean drive. Rather than reformat the C: drive on the computer and then install the new OS, I prefer to remove the old drive, put a new drive in the computer, install the new OS on that drive, then put the old drive back in as a slave. Once I have copied everything I want from the old drive, and I feel comfortable that everything is working as expected, then I reformat the old drive and use it as secondary storage on the computer.

In short, no, you don't need those original disks. You can buy a copy of the OS (Windows anyway, I know nothing about Macs) and install it directly.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. Good info. Isn't there some sort of connection, though, between the original discs and the mother board? A friend has always built his own computers. When I replaced one of my old ones, I gave it to him. He said he needed the original system discs. Was he just misinformed?

How about this. If I have a copy of the original Windows disc that came with a machine, would I be able to install that on any other machine, or does it have to go on the machine it came with?

ngc1514 Loc: Atlanta, Ga., Lancaster, Oh. and Stuart, Fl.

Nah... That's probably the smoke you're smelling. Smoke from an electronic component is a problem.

No one loves the smell of a frying resistor or burning dielectrics in capacitors at any hour of the day.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You've probably heard of the problem Lucas electrics had with smoke leaking out of their car wiring in the 50's and 60's. They just couldn't keep that smoke in there, and once the smoke leaked out, the electrical system failed.

ngc1514 Loc: Atlanta, Ga., Lancaster, Oh. and Stuart, Fl.

The electrical system in my old 1969 XKE didn't leak any smoke, but oil was another matter entirely.

TchrBill Loc: Houston, TX

As I said, I am no expert on those disks that come with off the shelf machines but, I really believe they are just ghost images allowing you to restore the machine to its original condition. There is no connection to the motherboard. However, if you were to install a new motherboard on that computer it would, essentially, be a new computer and software would very likely have to be reinstalled. As far as your friend is concerned, I don’t think he was misinformed. I think he wanted the original “system” disks so he could restore the machine to its original condition with the preinstalled software in place.

On your second question, if you have a real Microsoft Windows disk, not the manufacturer’s disk that has Windows on it, you should be able to use that on another machine. Having said that, more recent versions of Windows prevented you from installing the OS on multiple machines. In other words, one license, one machine. I have not had to do it but, I have heard that if you wish to install Windows on a different machine from the machine on which it was originally used, you can call Microsoft support and they can give you a different installation “key” (which is a number used during installation). That would now “connect” that particular license to the new machine once you have installed it on the new machine. I have even heard that if you replace enough essential parts inside the computer, Windows may think it is on a different machine and a new installation key is required. Again, these last two situations are just what I have heard and not personal experience.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. I think what I was getting mixed up about was the restoration/reinstallation discs that come with a machine. They can't be used on just any computer, right?

TchrBill Loc: Houston, TX

That is correct. If you have a restoration disk from an old machine and buy a new machine it is highly unlikely you would be able to use the disk on the new machine unless it was the same make and model with the same components.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

A Microsoft Windows disk is generic. You may have to install device drivers for your machine. An OEM Windows disk has the device drivers for that manufacturer's components. That's why it may not work on another machine. A Microsoft Windows disk can be activated on two systems without grief, though it's supposed to be only used on one. So, if your hard drive dies and you replace it and reinstall Windows, no problem. If you have to do it a third time, you'll wind up on the phone with Microsoft explaining why.

Rainlover Loc: Qld Australia

Double post and I do not know how to delete it

Rainlover Loc: Qld Australia

Double post and I do not know how to delete it

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

When a hard drive is affected badly enough for the head to touch the surface the head also moves erratically, SKIPS (because it wasn't locked down at the moment of impact) across the surface as it writes data in areas it shouldn't, and it can touch the disk in other places it shouldn't as it goes.

The analogy between CD player and hard disk wasn't really a good one but I used it for simplicity. Portable CD players only read so they don't typically damage the disk as skipping occurs. I initially was trying to say one should treat their hard drive gently when moving around with it running, just like you would treat a CD player to avoid skipping.

An abused hard drive certainly ruins what it touches on the surface and it may destroy the FAT. If the drive is not readable then it is considered crashed. Crashed doesn't necessarily mean trashed though. After a deep format, it may come back as though nothing happened because the surface and head were not damaged - only the data on the surface was. So it isn't for sure that the head is ruined nor the platter until you try a full format and see if everything is still working properly. Sometimes they'll come back with a couple bad sectors but with today's prices being so cheap, it's better to just replace it at that point.

Best Buy Geek Squads are the Masters of "the hard drive is bad and must be replaced" for every ailment from "restore" not working, "recovery" not working completely right, a laptop was dropped and you're just there for a checkup, a virus is affecting operations, Windows doesn't work perfectly, etc. I'm surprised they don't recommend a new hard drive with a bad laptop battery or power supply. No matter what you have wrong, they recommend the hard drive has to be replaced. It just so happens that because many people don't have their original disks or didn't even get original disks - of course you'll have to buy a new Windows for it as well. So I don't like to jump to conclusions about hard drives until I try a little troubleshooting, reformatting, and checking first.