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| Windows OS question | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 24 2005, 02:43 PM (472 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Jun 24 2005, 02:43 PM Post #1 |
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Deleted User
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alright again the geek is in need of other views. i have an old gateway back frrom 99 or 2000 and it ran ME. *disregard all thoughts of ME flaming* anyways, i tried to instal the ME os on a different comptuer that wasnt my gateway because my buddy needed an OS to run. the thing is, it wouldnt let me install ME because they were gateway restore disks. its an install for ME yet it can only run on a gatway box. now would that force me to assume that if you formatted your drive u couldnt use it again? or would that be something registered in the BIOS? if its in the BIOS i think i wold be able to change the registered thing around if i ever need ME on a differenet box. i dont know, ill play around with it. currently on the old box i got a very slow version of XP running. any comments or ideas or thoughts on this? i know reinstall with linux but it is always handy to have a backup OS on hand. |
 
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| Ben | Jun 24 2005, 02:53 PM Post #2 |
Quantum-locked when observed.
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Many computers come with customized restore discs rather than actual Windows installation discs, I have one for my Toshiba laptop and my family has one for their Dell Desktop. Often this is because computers come with a lot of preinstalled software. Such discs are both a bane and a boon, because they do aid with installing after formatting your drive, but also have disadvantages because sometimes it leaves reformatting as an only option if you mess up Windows. You can format the drive of your Gateway as many times as you want and the restore disc will still work. This is because when you put the restore disc in and boot from disc, the disc recognises the computer's BIOS as a Gateway computer. Similarly, when you try to use the disc on a non-Gateway computer, the disc will not work because it was specially created for Gateway computers--most likely, in fact, for the specific computer model you have. |
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| Deleted User | Jun 24 2005, 02:55 PM Post #3 |
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is there a way to edit those BIOS signatures? or possibly tweak a file on the disks? |
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| drangonsile | Jun 24 2005, 03:10 PM Post #4 |
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  ![]](../../../../0/1/0/p601690/pipright.png)
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Probly but its probly also illegal. The part of the EULA that says not to edit the OS. |
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| Deleted User | Jun 24 2005, 03:14 PM Post #5 |
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its actually not touching the OS. its just something on the disk/BIOS to check if it its a gateway. u know what forget it. this gets WAYYYYY to close to illegal activities and im not in the mood to get a talking to by the mods. Tachyon thx for the help and ill look into it when i have time. otherwise lets just forget this topic ever came about |
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| Sirin | Jun 25 2005, 12:08 AM Post #6 |
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I hate the EULA. GO GNU GPL Linux(tm)! :hyper: |
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| Ben | Jun 25 2005, 12:26 AM Post #7 |
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Quantum-locked when observed.
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I'll point out that you won't have much luck even if you did try. You'd need to muck about with the disc itself too. Gateway hardware will be slightly different than Toshiba hardware, et cetera, so the Gateway restore disc wouldn't work because it will always be expecting a response typical of a Gateway computer. 
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