win 7 disc ruined

[Spoiler]

I have made copies of Win 7 DVD and they worked fine.

I have also used the cream to bring a CD back to life. It is sort of like toothpaste. It has a little grit to it and polishes the disk. I made a backup copy of as soon as I could read it.

[truenorth]

Re comments on "repairing" damaged cd/dvd discs. I had read/heard some time back (wish i could be more precise -but that memory thing impedes)  that the more difficult damage to deal with is a scratch not on the read side of the disc but on the other side. Having something to do with the laser light reflection inability of a non reflective point where the scratch is. Others may have had experience with that and the O/P doesn't mention which side is damaged.truenorth

[DaveLembke]

Just wanted to mention that as far as Windows 7 goes, my friend lost his Win 7 disc for Home Premium. I was able to use my Win 7 Home Premium Disc on his machine for clean build and then use the Win 7 key on the outside of his HP tower and it activated without any problems. So if you have a friend with the same exact version of 7 as you, you can try this. My copy of 7 btw was not one that came as a restore disc with a new computer. It was a oem clean corporate type 7 disc without all the bloatware that computer companies add to new system builds.

BTW... Make sure your drive is no longer grinding disc's before your friends disc goes in. Guessing you replaced this drive?

[Salmon Trout]

So if you have a friend with the same exact version of 7 as you, you can try this.

In fact all Windows 7 install disks are identical. It's your key that determines what version gets installed on your PC.

[soybean]

It was a oem clean corporate type 7 disc without all the bloatware that computer companies add to new system builds.

That would include device drivers for a specific brand and model computer, right?  So, using it with another computer, even though it may successfully install the OS, may leave some driver issues to resolve, right?

[DaveLembke]

soybean your correct... They would likely have to track down the non generic drivers like WIFI NIC etc that dont normally come bundled with oem OS. Thanks for stating that for the user to be aware of.

And Salmon ... good to know about 7 discs all being the same and the key being what determines the version. About time MS did this. As for with XP etc it was disc specific, and also with XP, some keys would work with some disc's and not all, almost like the discs were created in batches with supported keys ( prior to MS live activation for Final Approval or Disapproval of a bootleg or too many activations ) I got lucky with a few computers where the XP Pro oem disc would take the initial key from say the Dell key on the panel during the build process while have also run into some that come up as invalid key on some HP's etc. Nice to know that this issue should be gone with Win 7.

[BC_Programmer]

That would include device drivers for a specific brand and model computer, right?

No.

[soybean]

No.

Eh, I think this may vary, depending on the manufacturer.  I believe - indeed, I'm almost absolutely sure - the recovery disc I have for my Compaq laptop will install drivers as well as the OS.  Here's a reference which supports my view: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_disc   Quote from the article:

"Due to the recovery discs containing all the applications and drivers for a computer, many manufacturers are omitting copies of product CDs in favor of the single recovery system to prevent unauthorized distribution of preloaded software, as the recovery media is usually locked to the computer it came with."

[BC_Programmer]

Eh, I think this may vary, depending on the manufacturer.  I believe - indeed, I'm almost absolutely sure - the recovery disc I have for my Compaq laptop will install drivers as well as the OS.

An OEM Windows disc is not a Recovery disk.

[soybean]

An OEM Windows disc is not a Recovery disk.

I believe I understand the distinction you're making.  Yes, if I buy an OEM Windows disc from a seller such as newegg.com, I would be getting only the OS.  I would then need to take additional action to obtain and install device drivers.  On the other hand, a recovery disc from a manufacturer will typically include an OEM version of Windows and device drivers and perhaps other software that was installed on a computer when new.  If I use the recovery disc for my Compaq laptop, it will install the OS, drivers, and various software that HP had installed on it when new.