[Scgeeks] Re: Opinion wanted on new PC

[Mike Easter]

indigo wrote:
> anyone have any trouble with HP Pavilion desktops?

Not long ago I bought a Compaq SR2027X on sale real cheap at Fry's.  It
was the multimedia version of XP.  I bought it because it was such a
good deal and because I wanted a legal version of XP to help my friends
with their problems.  Personally I'm still using W98se every day and
lots and lots and lots of different linux distros.

I didn't like the way the software/licensing was handled - altho' I
guess you can expect that the mfr is going to be playing every angle to
make money and MS isn't going to provide much of a license for whatever
HP/Compaq pays them.

What I got was a 'bad' ie junked up install, namely XP + tons & tons &
tons of bloatware.  I got no MS disk;  in fact I got no disks
whatsoever, even for the bloatware.  I got an image for recovery on a
separate partition.  I haven't checked it out to see if it is pre-gagged
with bloatware, probably it is.

So, I'm thinking/suspecting it wouldn't be possible to do a fresh
install of just XP with what I got;  unless maybe there is such an
opportunity if you would use the recovery partition, but I doubt it.

I didn't really buy it for the XP 'for myself' -- as it is my intention
to partition the disk some more and install linux distros on it -- but I
would have rather had an opportunity to be able to do a clean install of
XP rather than the install like I got the box from the factory.

I have no gripes about the hardware itself -- I just don't think much of
the MS/Compaq/bloatware arrangements.  That was the first time I have
bought a computer with an OS pre-installed since Win 95;  and when I
bought that box I got a genuine MS Win95 disk and a clean install by the
local assembler.


-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin