Dell Reinstallation Disk Question

Are the Dell OS reinstallation disks (vista or XP) that was shipped with the laptop came preinstalled with the OEM license? Or is it a standard windows installation disk wherein you need to input the serial license found on your windows sticker at the bottom of the laptop?

 

All my Dell computers come with a 'restore' disk that has the OS on it. It is a disk with a Dell logo and stuff on it. You shouldn't need to put a serial number in. And they are specific to Dell computers...so you can't install it on your HP. At least it is that way with my Dell desktop with XP. My notebook with Vista has not needed a OS reinstall yet.

 

But the one that came with my lappie is a reinstallation disk not a restore disk. I'm very much aware that a restore disk is merely a mirror/image of the drive that came shipped with a laptop. A reinstallation disk, on other hand and as far as i understand, means its a full windows install disk. What i wanna know though is if this OEM disk came with the serial preinstalled or do you need use the license found at the bottom.

 

I thought the restore/reinstallation were the same thing? Whatever its called, it is the disk that you would use to reinstall the OS. So I guess they are reinstallation disks, not restore. My bad.

And from my experience, with Dell versions of Windows ME and Windows XP, you do NOT need the serial number when installing again.

 

Its the same with Vista re installation Discs.

 

All Dell restore discs are just the operating system. They just recognize the BIOS as being Dell and you won't need to put in your OS key to reinstall.

 

Exactly. I just reinstalled yesterday, and did not need to enter a product code. Nor did I need to activate. By the way, you can use a utility like Winkey Finder to look up the actual product key if you want.

 

Dell doesn't ship a restore CD, the systems come with a partition to restore the image and if you lose this image you have to make a clean reinstallation with the Dell Vista CD and install drivers and the other stuff as usual.

 

Thanks for the infos guys. I have used my Dell Vista reinstallation CD to triple boot XP, Vista and Ubuntu. I'm just wondering why it didnt ask for the serial when i installed it. I just a little bit worried that it will deactivate after 30 days if i dont input the serial at the bottom of my lappy. I hope that after 30 days my Vista will still run to be able to validate your claims. lol. If not, I'll just boot to XP or Ubuntu.lol

 

You sure? Most people I know, including myself, have got the reinstallation disks.

Maybe they forgot yours?

 

I second mattocs. I have a reinstallation disk from Dell as well as the partition on my drive. Most Dell owners i have heard of has this included in their package as well.

I can also confirm my siblings Dells has reinstallation disk.

 

For a while, maybe 2005 - 2006? They did not send the reinstall CD. You could buy one for $10 or something. But now I believe they all come with one.