DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum New computer question about upgrading

Yep, 2 monitors are easy.

The third requires DisplayPort or some gymnastics to convert DisplayPort to DVI or HDMI.

You can find monitors with DisplayPort as well.

Thanks again for all the help to get to this point. Learned a lot in this process, esp about the importance of video cards and understanding how those work. This Dell should hold me over for quite awhile now.

Next step - learning Windows 7.



I've been a die hard XP user for so long. Hopefully this transition on this 1 computer will go smoothly. It's just being used for work, so as long as I can get it on the internet and the network, we'll be up and running in no time.


I do have another question - forgot to ask at BBY, is it still standard to get a Windows disc w/ the new computer (for reformatting purposes) or I am going to have to call Dell after I get this and fork out some more cash to get that disc now?

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I've been a die hard XP user for so long.

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You're gonna love windows 7, you wont miss XP at all.

I thought the same thing at one time, but now I say going back to XP from 7 is like going back to a flip phone from a smart phone.

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... is it still standard to get a Windows disc w/ the new computer (for reformatting purposes) or I am going to have to call Dell after I get this and fork out some more cash to get that disc now?

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Good question. Getting a copy of the OS on optical media has always been a purchasing point for me.

The answer would be no per the link to the Studio XPS 8100. It says that it comes with a Recovery CD. I've never used recovery discs so I can't speak to how they work, but I would imagine that it's some variation of Norton's Ghost. You might be able to get call Dell ahead of time and arrange for a copy of Windows ... dunno.

It seems that nowadays it's either the recovery discs, a recovery partition or the actual OS disc that is included with new purchases. My trusty ol' Dell came with a copy of XP on disc and it has come in very handy. The only component that has failed on that computer was the HD and having the disc at hand simplified getting the box back up and running.

Recovery partitions are very simple to use when needed and are typically an exact copy of the factory installed OS. With good back data back up practices the whole process takes just minutes. Most of the family and friend computers I have worked on have this option. In those cases if I need to get data off of the primary drive, then I use a bootable Ubuntu USB (with persistence) to access the data, copy the data and then reinstall Windows from the partition. Obviously the main drawback to a recovery partition is failure of the primary drive.

My daughter has a Lenovo and they set up the recovery on the first partition (C drive) which really is not sensible particularly for the average computer user. She has a single HD and this partition is not hidden, is writable and only large enough for the OS. Needless to say she calls me on a fairly regular basis complaining that her computer has slowed down despite my instructions to install / download to D drive. Wth was Lenovo thinking?

Have fun with your new box.

Many factory computers with a recovery partition also come with an option to burn the recovery media onto a DVD or CDs.

Most times this will be unnecessary because the recovery media is accessable through the boot menu in the event that the computer becomes unrecoverable due to an error. I always burn a copy anyway ..... because I'm just like that.

The Recovery CD usually has the option to re-install just Windows, or the entire disk image as the PC came out of the box.

If it is on a hard drive partition, make a disk copy ASAP so that you are protected in case of drive failure.

As long as you have the MS Certificate of Authenticity with the code numbers, you can download and/or borrow the CD and enter the numbers when requested. That CoA is what you pay for, not the CD itself.

Thanks for that info - I personally just like to have the Windows disc nearby so a reformat is easily done. If it's not in the box I may call Dell to see what it costs.