Notebooks that come with Windows preinstalled - what happens if you format?

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Ancalagon

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So I'm idly considering buying a 13.3 inch laptop. I dont know why, I must have forgot to take my crazy pills.

Anyway, laptops this small dont come with an optical drive. What happens if I decide to format it and put Linux on it? They obviously wont give me a Windows disc, do they at least give you a CD key so that if you want to reinstall later from a USB drive, you can?

Oh and I suppose its difficult if not impossible to get MS/the laptop manufacturer to refund you for Windows if you dont want it?

Not that I hate Windows, in fact I use it almost all the time, I just want to the freedom to install Linux should I choose to, without negative consequences like never being able to reinstall Windows ever. Yes I could dual boot, there is that.
 
And using that you can always reinstall etc?

Thinking about it, dual booting actually makes much more sense.
 
Ancalagon said:
And using that you can always reinstall etc?

Thinking about it, dual booting actually makes much more sense.
Click to expand...

Or run your Linux distro in a virtual machine within Windows, then you've got access to both without having to re-boot
 
If it came with an OEM license, then you'll need the Windows installation disks from that specific manufacturer (eg. HP / Dell / Acer / Asus), because it might not work with a retail copy of Windows.
 
To answer your question, the laptop will come with a bootable partition which will contain your install files. That way you simply boot of that partition and can restore the machine to factory spec.

As long as you don't kill that partition you will be fine.
 
requiem said:
To answer your question, the laptop will come with a bootable partition which will contain your install files. That way you simply boot of that partition and can restore the machine to factory spec.

As long as you don't kill that partition you will be fine.
Click to expand...

Image the install partition to a a file and keep it in a safe place, you can always restore it with a flash key should the need arise.
 
Thanks guys.

Now I just need to decide whether to buy the damn thing! I dont know whats got into me. I mean, I dont do much travelling, I have a work laptop for work and a desktop for gaming at home. Yet for some reason I want a small laptop with integrated 3G so that when I travel (which is not all that often), I can still play some old games and surf the web. Whats wrong with me?
 
If you are prepared to run Ubuntu then it can be installed via wubi. This does not require a separate partition - it installs as a file in your Windows system but your PC will act like a dual boot system. You can even uninstall it through the Windows control panel.

If you do go this route then Google for how to blacklist the grub updates or else sooner or later one of them will make your Ubuntu installation inaccessible.
 
Ancalagon said:
Thanks guys.

Now I just need to decide whether to buy the damn thing! I dont know whats got into me. I mean, I dont do much travelling, I have a work laptop for work and a desktop for gaming at home. Yet for some reason I want a small laptop with integrated 3G so that when I travel (which is not all that often), I can still play some old games and surf the web. Whats wrong with me?
Click to expand...

You are suffering from "Gadgetitch".

I get that a lot. :D
 
Roadrunner said:
You are suffering from "Gadgetitch".

I get that a lot. :D
Click to expand...

I am!

Its irritating. There is no rational reason to want to buy a new notebook. I can even bring my work laptop around with me, as long as I look after it (although I just prefer not to). 99% of the time I wont use it, at all. Why do I want one???

Even worse, when I start looking at notebooks, suddenly I want to spend more money to get something better. Ie, first I was looking at a Thinkpad Edge 13 with 3G. Then an Acer Timeline X with 3G caught my eye. Then an HP 4320s. All a lot more expensive than the Thinkpad Edge 13!

Sigh! I just spent a lot of money on a car, so I really shouldnt want to spend money like this.
 
Insight

Ancalagon said:
It's irritating. There is no rational reason to want to buy a new notebook.

Sigh! I just spent a lot of money on a car, so I really shouldnt want to spend money like this.
Click to expand...

You have OTHER problems in your life.

I do consult , seeing as you have this urge to spend , I will only charge you my minimal rate -- R1,000.00 / hr

:D
 
No thanks! I'm quite capable of spending what little money I have myself!
 
Take the HDD out and replace with a SSD. When you want to go back just swap them.
 
Recovery partition isn't going to save you if the HDD fails. There is a method to build your own CD using the install files from the drive. I used this for XP on a Lenovo, might be similar method for Win7: http://s10lenovo.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1475

Some notebooks do also include software to make your own install discs. I've seen that on a recent HP notebook.
 
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