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Install CDs for specific manufacturers.

 
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xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2026 8:18 pm    Post subject: Install CDs for specific manufacturers. Reply with quote

After looking at secondhand shops, i've stumbled upon this: . Yes, i've used an Ebay picture for this, should get you to understand what im talking about.

Was this a common practice back then? In the case of this install CD, what would happen if it was installed NOT on an Acer PC? Supposedly there would be heavy driver issues.
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dkay
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2026 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They’re just regular installers, but with OEM licensing instead of VL or retail. You would usually get an additional disc or discs with drivers and software for the specific computer.
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daniel
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2026 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah you should be good to install it on anything. I have a few of these myself. The funny thing is that computer manufactures stopped giving OS discs somewhere along the way starting with Windows XP. So OS re-installs were a pain unless you called the manufacture to order an os disc. Some only came with driver discs or "repair discs."
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xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx
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PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2026 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

daniel wrote:
Yeah you should be good to install it on anything. I have a few of these myself. The funny thing is that computer manufactures stopped giving OS discs somewhere along the way starting with Windows XP. So OS re-installs were a pain unless you called the manufacture to order an os disc. Some only came with driver discs or "repair discs."


Are you sure? Keep reading only about some hardware locks, like this one: https://www.technibble.com/understanding-the-different-windows-xp-licenses/
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teedeeaye
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PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2026 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got a Compaq CQ60 (in all its E-Waste glory) which must have been one of the first *not* to come with a restore CD. There's a sheet inside to send you to a dead website and that's about it.
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xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx
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PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2026 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

teedeeaye wrote:
I've got a Compaq CQ60 (in all its E-Waste glory) which must have been one of the first *not* to come with a restore CD. There's a sheet inside to send you to a dead website and that's about it.


Was the site archived in any way?
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teedeeaye
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PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2026 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx wrote:
teedeeaye wrote:
I've got a Compaq CQ60 (in all its E-Waste glory) which must have been one of the first *not* to come with a restore CD. There's a sheet inside to send you to a dead website and that's about it.


Was the site archived in any way?


Oh, now that I haven't checked! I'll have a wee look later on. The paperwork is still with the laptop. Smile
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europa
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2026 1:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx wrote:
Are you sure? Keep reading only about some hardware locks, like this one: https://www.technibble.com/understanding-the-different-windows-xp-licenses/


Those are recovery discs, distinct from the OEM discs like you picture. Recovery disks usually use something like Norton Ghost or a special installer to restore a special image to the hard disk that would restore the software in the laptop to what it would come with from the factory.

OEM discs, on the other hand, are standard versions of windows that are designed to be used with a specific set of license keys.

OEM discs are not hardware locked, recovery discs (typically) are.
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VCSMaster
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2026 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have seen a couple that include some factory utilities or drivers streamlined in, like the ones for the Dell PowerEdge machines that include the SCSI card drivers on the disc, but otherwise they're just locked to OEM keys and nothing else.

It was a very common practice to do this with new computers for a very long time.
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parasquared
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2026 3:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Windows 9x discs are actually sometimes OEM-locked, typically via the manufacturer string in the BIOS. my Dell OEM copy of Windows Me will only install on Dell machines, even though it's a normal Windows install disc in all other regards. and since my singular Dell machine is far too new to run Me (Core 2 Duo from like 2011), the disc is basically useless to me lol

meanwhile, my Dell Windows XP disc will install on anything without issues. the only real difference is that on non-Dell machines, it doesn't apply the few Dell-specific tweaks, like the extra Help & Support menu and what looks like a registry tweak for something USB related? not quite sure what it is just looking at it, but you get the idea

here's a picture of the warning said Windows Me disc spits out on a non-Dell machine

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VCSMaster
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2026 4:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting, I did not know that. I've never bothered much with 9x in general so I probably would have never found that out if you had not mentioned it
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europa
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2026 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VCSMaster wrote:
Interesting, I did not know that. I've never bothered much with 9x in general so I probably would have never found that out if you had not mentioned it


Same, I knew that OEM boot disks were oftentimes hardware locked just by virtue of the weirdness of CD-ROM drivers and the like under DOS, but I never realized that 9x OEM discs themselves were sometimes hardware locked.
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