Winodws XP Media Center edition CD

I have a new Dell with Win XP Media Center edition. (SP2). How can I obtain a full Windows XP Cd as that is not what Dell gives you with the XP system computer. PC Magazine 2/8/2005 says that Microsoft will supply one free if asked and have Valid product key.
With this and a copy of SP 2 I can then create valid restore discs in case I should need to reinstall the entire operating system without going back to day one.

Thank You

 

Windows XP Media Center Edition

The problem is that the Dell supplied CD is only a partial system, typical of most OEM supplied Windows cds. Because of that, if I use that to restore the operating system I also will have to restore everything else and thus my pc would be back at day one. With a fuill XP System Cd I would only have to restore XP.

 

I think what you're looking for is an imaging program like Norton's (semantec) Ghost; then make images periodically and store them on DVDs and you're never far from the last good boot.

 

This has been my experience too. The only Dell I've purchased was a laptop for my daughter but I've worked on a bunch of them and they all came with a recovery cd and a WinXP cd. About a month ago I set up a brand new Dell system for a lady. It came with both the recovery cd and the windows disk so apparently they're still sending them with the puters. The windows disk was an OEM disk but that doesn't make it any different from any other windows disk. It's windows, period.

Are you talking about a recovery disk here? If so, you should do as Steve said and take another look at the cd's they sent. If it's not there, I don't know what to tell you. It could be they quit sending them with their computers but if this is the case the change would have had to have taken place in sometime within the last month. If you really didn't get one, maybe you should give them a call and see what they have to say about it.

 

I have a little experience with the XPMedia Center Edition that is in my Dell 8400. I also have a conflict with a driver in Sonic Software. Dell is trying to find a solution.

As to a CD, Dell tells me there is no CD for this edition. There is a Symantec Restore (which is a close looker to Norton Ghost) which I have used 6 time in the past 7 weeks. It is super fast, takes about 5 minutes to Restore, then put your backup on top of that is the only solution available for the version, XPMedia Center. This OS is a stripped down XP Pro with the Media added. Dell sends a DVD with the OS on it but I can't make it bootable as hard as I try. The help Center in India has tried many times to get me to insert a CD which I don't have. You cannot do a Repair as you can on other XP OS machine, assuming it has Media Center. I've spent a lot of time talking to the people in Waco about this.

Best advice I have is to backup your data, do the Restore, which is Ctrl+F11 eactly when "www.Dell.com" appears during boot. This will bring you to the Symantec Restore.

 

Thanks Mudd. You learn something new every day. I find it odd though, that they provide a cd with the other OS's but not with the Media Center edition. Wonder why that is???

 

Don't know why! I complained to them but was told, "That's the way the Media Edition is." I also asked why they put the XP Pro on the DVD, which by the way you can install but don't know what you'll get as the OS is stripped of some of Pro's features. They told the again, "That's---------is. "

 

results so far

Very interesting comments. I emailed Dell and was told that they will immediately send me out a Windows XP Media edition OS CD. Will post what I actually get when I get it.
What they emailed me:

"I understand from your email that you did not receive CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition. , I apologize that you did not receive the CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition on your order. I have set up a request for a new CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition to be shipped to you. Once your order is completed, it will be shipped to you Next Day Air to the address provided below: "

Thank you all for your input.

 

Wow, that's ammunition for me to ask for my CD! Of course I would never use your name but I will use your information. What a ripoff.

Plus I'm having a big problem with lock up still. Haven't got them to resolve this yet. I do have the 3 yr at home warranty and am about ready to call for that.

Thank you for your reply, it will help I'm sure.

A question. Did the signature show any indication that it was from an out-sourced tech? Why I ask is that the emails I tried initally were are from the out-sourced, I believe, as I think the names were typical. If it had been only one email I would not have noticed, but after 10 or more I think I right. It seems that maybe Dell has not told them about the CD or that Dell has tried to pull the wool over my eyes!

 

Could be the latter but my guess is that you probably just talked to people who knew no better. Dell would have nothing to gain by having irate customers.

I'm still wondering whether you're supposed to get the cd or not when you by the computer. It's possible that the policy is to not send the cd with the puter but to send them out to those who ask. Can't see why they'd do this when they send a cd with the other XP OS's. Guess we won't know until you talk to them. Let us know what you find out.

Maybe somebody else using XP Media Center edition will see this and can comment as to whether they received a cd with their computer or not. How about it? Anybody?

 

Just for your information there is a DVD with XPPro as well as a lot of other things. The DVD Label reads, "Reinstallation DVD, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005." Then in small letters on the side of the label it reads, "This software is already installed on your computer. Only use this DVD to reinstall the operating system on a Dell computer. This DVD is not for reinstallation of programs or drivers. "

It won't boot, there is no autorun. I doubled clicked the XP icon and sure enough it started to install. Stopped it quickly. Just wanted to see if that was in fact a program. It was. So a person might reinstall XP over XP. I sure would not want to format and then use it this way. Two many problems getting drivers and other things.

Without a CD, I can't do a SFC. Tried that and it wanted a CD. Tried the DVD, wouldn't take that. There is no way I can do a Repair. Only way is to use their Symantec/Dell Restore program which is a ghost type setup that puts it back like the day they shipped it.

 

I'm not sure how that dvd disk works but you say it started to install when you double clicked the XP icon. If that's the case it would probably copy files and then reboot to finish the installation (just guessing here). If it is installing windows it would be the equivalent of a "repair ". A repair installation is just a reinstallation of windows on top of the old. You'd probably run into troubles though if you've installed SP2 and the dvd disk doesn't contain it. If you're original installation included SP2 then the dvd most likely does too. If you call Dell again you might ask some questions about this.

 

I'm only had this two months. Sp2 was already on it. I may chance it just for the heck of it. However, I don't have a Startup disk of any kind in case it craters. In the BIOS there is no mention of a DVD in the Boot section. I also don't have a Floppy Disk, nor a A drive to run it.

Before I do anything I'm waiting for someone to punch in with information. Maybe Jorjab will post soon.

 

Still waiting for CD

The cd is scheduled to arrive sometime today. I will be away all day so may not get back to BBS till tomorrow. I do have the aforementioned DVD but did not want to even try using that. My system is currently fine - I am just anticipating any possible future problems.

The email correspondence was with the Outsourced group in India so may have nothing to do with where you reach their techs. Not sure they have any other then in India, at least not in my experience of 5 phone calls and 3 emails with Tech Support since late January when I got my pc.

Jorjab

 

Guess what they sent

Sorry folks they sent the DVD - will try via email to find out if I can get a cd but my guess is no way.


Jorjab

 

That's what my guess was! I'm thinking that they don't have a CD with the Media Center tacked on the XP OS. That's why they want you to go to the Restore packed in the partition. Probably used something like GHOST to do it, it resembles Ghost's Interface. I've backed up that Partition in case I have a big problem. Dell would probably do something to help get it back. Hope someone with HP or some other brand PC comes along and tells what they have. This may be unique to Dell. If I ever find anything different I'll sure post it.

 

You can probably copy the Media Center portion of that DVD to your hard drive in an ISO format and then burn a bootable CD from the ISO.

 

Rockster2U I've attached a look-see of the DVD content in icons. I'm usually wrong when I decide something but I don't think the Media Center part is on the DVD. One reason is that it is not for reinstalling or repair. That tells me something. There is no CD for this setup.

Again guessing, but I believe the XP Pro was stripped down either by MS or Dell, loaded into the PC, then the Media Center was loaded on that, and then they made a Restore Program, that will delete/format all data and then rewrite to the HD. Also on that Program, all Dell programs that they decided to include, along with "trash" programs, such as AOL, EarthLink, etc are installed, just ready to activate.

When I do the restore, and before I restore my data from an external drive, there is already 6.76GB on the drive. This is a sloppy way of doing things I'll say.

The Setup Icon will begin to install XP Pro. Never let it go all the way as I'm concerned that it won't include Media Center.

 

Looking at the pic of the DVD's contents it appears it's pretty much the same as a normal XP disk. Have a look at the pic of mine. Aside from the OEM folder and a couple files put there by my cd burner (this is a slipstreamed SP2 disk) it's pretty much the same. Also, you said it has no autorun. It should. I see you have an autorun file in the root of the DVD so it should work for you. Perhaps you have the autorun feature turned off on your DVD drive??? Have a look at the readme on it and see if it has any details.

This tells me that the DVD does indeed include Media Center.

This would seem to indicate that it is for reinstalling or repair. As I said before, a repair installation is the same thing as reinstalling windows on top of the old one. What the DVD does not do is reinstall all of your programs. It only contains Windows. To get all the programs reinstalled that came with the computer you'd have to use the restore disk but you should be able to reinstall windows with that disk.

Do you have a CD drive besides the DVD drive? If so, how are they set up? Which is master and which is slave? Which IDE controller are they connected to? When I put my DVD drive in I set it to master and then set my CDRW to slave on the same controller. Before I had the DVD drive it would boot to the CDRW. Since I added the DVD drive and changed the jumper settings, it now boots from my DVD drive instead of the CDRW. Perhaps you just have to change things around to get it to boot from the DVD.