Robooted laptop and have lost all of my software.
Ibby
have lost all my software. I now need microsoft to send me the software i
had, but i dont know how to contact them (by online chat). I have tried to
email them but they brought mr to this website. So can someone please help me
to contact microsoft by an online chat system.
RobertVA
A VERY large percentage of laptops come with OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) Windows OS (Operating System) licenses. Microsoft offers
computer manufacturers significant discounts on the wholesale price of
Windows in return for the computer manufacturer assuming most of the
support role for the OS, including OS reinstallation media. In the case
of laptops/notebooks reinstallation of the Windows OS often requires
software developed by the computer manufacturer to achieve full function
anyway.
Manufacturers that include OEM OS licenses with computers typicaly
include some mechanism that allows the computer owner to reinstall the
OS. In many cases the procedure involves the use of a hidden partition
on the hard drive, the use of which might be documented in the (usually
thin) manuals that come with the computer. To provide for the failure of
the whole hard drive or damage to the hidden partition, the customer is
often prompted to produce recovery media (CD-R or DVD+R/DVD-R) the first
time the computer is used. Before CD-R drives were common in laptops the
OEM OS was coded with the ability to produce a tall stack of OS recovery
floppy disks. If a computer is no longer able to produce the recovery
media the customer will probably have to acquire such media from the
computer manufacturer OR purchase a full retail license from a software
retailer. The availability of a compatible OS version for older
computers may be a problem from either source.
Some computers also include OEM licenses for user applications (like
Office or graphic/photo editors) from Microsoft and other application
publishers, with similar provisions for support and reinstallation media.