New Laptop/Start Up Disk?

[HLAuburn]

We are in the market for a new laptop. DD pulled the spacebar completely off, plus it's been getting so hot, I keep a fire extinguisher nearby at all times.

Anyway, we went to Best Buy tonight, and they said laptops no longer come with the "start up disk" and they're about $40 to buy. Is the true? It has been a long time since we bought a computer, so I wanted to double check.

Thanks!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Quite likely true.

I bought an HP laptop - never again - and when I started it for the first time, intructions come up on the screen that tell you how to create a startup / backup disc. It also said that you get ONE chance to burn the files to a DVD, and then the files will not work.

Well, it took 2 DVDs to make the backup... the first one went absolutely fine. The second one did not. And I tried a 2nd time to make one and the computer "denied" me.

So, I called HP, and they told me that I could buy backup discs for $25. I told them I wanted them for free since either the software on the computer was bad, or the DVD burner had issues. They hemmed and hawed, but in the end I got a "free" set of discs mailed to me.

 

[tinkerbell615]

I also had to make a recovery disk for my son's new Toshiba laptop. I had a hard time at first, but it was "picky" and only wanted a certain DVD before it would burn.

I did find it odd that it would only allow you to burn it once. I was going to make a second copy just in case something might have gone wrong with the first one, but it would not allow me to do that.

 

[HLAuburn]

Thanks...so HPs do give you one chance to make a disk on the first start up? Other than that, have you had issues w/ yours? We were looking at an HP, too.

Thanks again!

 

[tinkerbell615]

Thanks...so HPs do give you one chance to make a disk on the first start up? Other than that, have you had issues w/ yours? We were looking at an HP, too.

Thanks again!

I don't know anything about the HP, but if it is anything like the Toshiba, you can make the disk anytime you want. It is just that you can only make it once. One copy is all you get.

 

[Guy Incognito]

do you mean a 'recovery' disc? Like papa, got an HP laptop recently, and burned my own recovery discs.... it will let you choose between cd-r and dvd-r options (takes about 20 cd-r, but only 2-3 dvd-r), but once you put one kind in, you have to stick with that the rest of the way and can't cancel it to switch to the other (so make sure you have enough discs on hand, especially if you go the cd route).

the nice thing about it is you can 'cancel' out of it midway through, if you don't have time to get it all done in one sitting.... when you go back to it later, it will pick up where you left off.


depending on the size of the hard drive, you might end up with a split drive, with the bulk of it on one, and a smaller amount on the other (the HP I have has a recovery drive with about 12.5GB of space). The smaller drive will have the recovery stuff on it already, so if needed, you can default to that to restore your settings.

 

[HLAuburn]

Uhhh...I don't really know what I mean! I guess its the disk you need if something goes wrong and you need to "start over"...does that make any sense?! I thought my husband called it a "start up disk".

So if you do get one chance to make a copy, why would they tell you you have to buy it for $40? Kinda makes me mad...

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[Imzadi]

The Start Up disks are the same thing as the Recovery disks. It's just semantics. You make these disks when you first get your computer, so you have a clean copy of your computer at factory settings when you first START UP your computer. Later, if things go wrong, you put it in to RECOVER/RESTORE your computer back to the way it was originally at START UP, with those first factory settings.

The old, factory pre-made disks were called Recovery disks. Because that's the only time you used them. I guess, now they are called "Start-Up Disks" as you have to make them yourself, when you first start up your computer. I guess they don't want people to get confused and think you can wait until you need a Recovery disk, to then think you can make one.


HP computer here too. Never again. I went with the 3 DVD route someone else mentioned. The computer worked fine for several months. Then I installed A Google app that caused my computer to completely freeze and wouldn't do anything. Luckily, it let me reformat.

So I installed my start-up/recovery disk in. The first one installed fine. However, once my system installed that one, the second and third one would NOT be accepted. In fact, my DVD burner/player won't play or burn ANY DVDs or CDs. It simply doesn't work for anything else. Oh, it WILL accept the first disk over and over and over again, to reformat, but NOTHING after that. Apparently, whatever info, drivers, programing, etc. for the DVD player is stored on the second & third disks.

I lived without the DVD burner all this time. (2 1/2 years now.) But last month, I was going to take a seminar in which we had to load softwared for it via a DVD installation disk. I finally called HP tech support. It was a $50 call as my warranty was up. Of course it was an "overseas" tech.

After having to explain the situation several times he proceeded to tell me I need to reformat my laptop again. Umm, NO. I'd just end up where I already was. Except, I'd be missing all the updates and other software that I installed. I already knew several times that disks 2 & 3 won't load.

He then proceeded to try to sell me a new installation disk for $40 that might have all the info I need - except we weren't sure if it would play on my current DVD player.

He proceeded to tell me there is something wrong with the DVD player - that's it's broken. He tried to sell me a new replacement DVD burner for about $150, to replace my non-working one. NO, it works FINE to reinstall the first disk over & over & over.

Finally after about 40 minutes of going though this, I finally came up with the idea that I simply have to buy an external DVD player (cheap off eBay) for whenever I need a DVD player to install something that can't be done by flash drive.

Of course the HP tech support guy was overjoyed that WE arrived at a satisfactory conclusion, so he could end the call.

I wasted $50 on that call as it was only a "diagnostic call". He reiterated over & over that any additional services/equipment would cost me money.

For that $50 I could have bought the cheap, external DVD burner that I came up with. OR I could have taken my PC to the local Geek Squad and spoken to an American, in person, who could have then proceeded to manually load in CDs & DVDs and my installation disks to accertain the real problem. Also, He could have had an external DVD player there or a slave unit in which he could have installed DVDs 2 &3.

This was my second HP laptop and it will be my last. Their idiot overseas tech support is what made up my mind about that.

I ended up missing the seminar the next morning because I couldn't buy an external DVD player in time to install the software disk before the start of the seminar.