Asus desktops: Don't buy or read this first

Stoke

To be fair, I think good machines should come with recovery media... or a method of making recovery media.

tavernman

Stoke wrote: »

To be fair, I think good machines should come with recovery media... or a method of making recovery media.

To be truly fair how many people bother with making their own backups, let alone recovery media....horse and trough springs to mind.

robmar0se

I like the humour here, makes me smile!

I just wonder why OEM manufacturers don't supply recovery disks (Lenovo do on some of their laptops), it would cost them pennies and save a lot of hassle. Oh I suppose I can keep on dreaming...............

Have a great evening....

Uxb

When you are producing millions a saving of a few pence per unit is vital.

That is the difference between high volume low value production and low volume very high value type industrial sales where indeed saving a few pennies is totally absurd and usually counterproductive as it annoys customers.

prowla

I bought a used Dell system and needed to reinstall; I called Dell and they sent me a replacement disk FOC.

Of course, hard disks do fail, so it's not particularly Asus' fault about that.

But not offering media is underhand.

tavernman

prowla wrote: »

I bought a used Dell system and needed to reinstall; I called Dell and they sent me a replacement disk FOC.

Of course, hard disks do fail, so it's not particularly Asus' fault about that.

But not offering media is underhand.

Why ? Buy a PC without an O/S put on your own retail copy of your favourite system, and put it on the next one you can then keep it as long as you wish. Buy a PC with an OEM copy of windows if you don't make an image of it before you remove the bloatware, and then another one afterwards , and another after you have installed your favourite software. Then follow a serious backup routine, especially after installing a Service Pack(if it is windows) and do a new image. There are plenty free image backup software available and some fairly cheap paid for ones which can guide a novice through what they need to do.

Underhand I rather think not, you get what you don't pay for, certain stores offer recovery media at £35 now that I call underhand:eek:

prowla

tavernman wrote: »

Why ? Buy a PC without an O/S put on your own retail copy of your favourite system, and put it on the next one you can then keep it as long as you wish. Buy a PC with an OEM copy of windows if you don't make an image of it before you remove the bloatware, and then another one afterwards , and another after you have installed your favourite software. Then follow a serious backup routine, especially after installing a Service Pack(if it is windows) and do a new image. There are plenty free image backup software available and some fairly cheap paid for ones which can guide a novice through what they need to do.

Underhand I rather think not, you get what you don't pay for, certain stores offer recovery media at £35 now that I call underhand:eek:

As I said, I bought a used Dell computer, so I'm not the original purchaser, but I phoned them and they sent me a disc; I think that's good customer service.

Selling a system with the only recovery mechanism provided on the component which is most likely to fail, and without a plan B if & when it does fail is indeed underhand. The fact that the manufacturer doesn't offer recovery media, nor images thereof, is poor customer service.

Regarding cutting media, we don't actually know whether the OP's system had a DVD writer, but it is certainly the case that not all new computers do; therefore the manufacturers are providing you with a dead-end.

And, of course, writable media can deteriorate over time; Ive had errors with older discs.

I do, however, agree that charging £35 for recovery media is usury.

robmar0se

jbainbridge wrote: »

I would have thought you could -
- Create a W8.1 DVD from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media
- Install to new HD
- Obtain necessary drivers from ASUS website

I'd prefer this as the most recent ASUS machine I set up had loads of bloatware on it.

Dear Mr Bainbridge, I did as you suggested, and hey presto I have the system up and running. If I could give you 100 x thanks I would. A real constructive post that should help many as the "terrible win 8" systems start to fail more often.

Doesn't do ASUS any good in terms of their reputation in that they are unable to provide such constructive advice (or offer recovery disks).

Thanks again

rich_jtg

tavernman wrote: »

To be truly fair how many people bother with making their own backups, let alone recovery media....horse and trough springs to mind.

...and this is the actual issue faced by the OP.

I have had first-hand experience of two Asus desktops in the past 12 months, and both had a facility to create a recovery USB stick.

After initial setup, there was a splash screen advising you to do it, and IIRC it was also in the quick start guide.