Dell 5150 Dual Core 2.8GHz inc 19" LCD Monitor & Free Printer £429 (merged)

ajmuir

Anybody know if there is an easy way to squeeze a PROPER WinXP cd out of Dell. I want to buy this package, but also want to flatten it as soon as I get it. Dell's come pre-loaded with so much crap. Do Dell supply the proper bootable XP CD if you ask and not just the 'restore' CD?

Pretty_Thing

Yes - they come with a proper XP CD - if you have ordered one of course

Kilty_2

Pretty_Thing wrote:

Yes - they come with a proper XP CD - if you have ordered one of course

Was that actually a proper XP CD?

Oops, should have ordered it with my Inspiron

Pretty_Thing

I reckoned it was worth a fiver !!

Kilty_2

Pretty_Thing wrote:

I reckoned it was worth a fiver !!

I thought it would be some kind of Dell recovery disc, that would install a lot of the crap back on that comes with the machine.

Or is it like the Mesh "recovery" disc I have, XP Home CD with "MESH" on the top of it

ajmuir

I got the impression that the £5 add-on was a Symantec Restore CD, not a REAL windows XP boot CD. IE, it still contains all the Dell guff. I could be wrong though.

Pretty_Thing

'Operating System Backup & Recovery'

Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 backup media CD [add £5.88 or £1/month1]

AJP558

Why not just burn your own XP CD?

All the Dell's I bought recently (inc a Dimension 5150 & Inspiron 1300) had an option under the Start Menu/Programs/Dell Accessories allowing you to burn one XP CD. The option disappears once that has been burnt. You can then format the hard drive and do a fresh install of XP from scratch (ovbiously download the Dell h/w drivers and burn them to CD first).

Kilty_2

AJP558 wrote:

Why not just burn your own XP CD?

All the Dell's I bought recently (inc a Dimension 5150 & Inspiron 1300) had an option under the Start Menu/Programs/Dell Accessories allowing you to burn one XP CD. The option disappears once that has been burnt. You can then format the hard drive and do a fresh install of XP from scratch (ovbiously download the Dell h/w drivers and burn them to CD first).

Does it burn a real XP CD with no preinstalled crap?

rogerramjet

you can get the disks from anywhere you want, doesn't matter if its a copy of someone elses or even downloaded, all you need is your serial and to make sure its the correct version of xp (Home, Professional, MCE)....otherwise your serial number will not work.