Missing OEM CD

Dear MVP's;

Several months ago, a couple of friends gave me a
computer. At that time I knew nothing about PC's and,
apparently, my benefactors didn't know a whole lot more.
They got the thing second hand (and cheap) from a local
clearing house adjunct to UBC.
The vendor's key selling point was that the unit had
Windows 98 "pre-installed." To my friends, this was a
feature worthy of great glee. To my mind, it was an
appurtancnce about as signifigant as a copy of "CALCVLVS"
would be to a flounder.
I have come to learn that the transfer(s) of
ownership did not conform to convention*; either the
original owner, or the Reseller, kept the documentation,
OEM CD, Manual, and etc's. I am also missing an equivalent
to the "Welcome to Windows" tutorial. Since I had no way
of knowing at the outset these deficits existed, learning
and problem-solving have been rather drastically
impaired.
As it now stands, I have the feeling that I have been
caught 'off-sides' by a careless pass and I wish to get a
new 'face off' and start again.
In response to a previous query of mine to MSNG,
Brian A wrote:

* "A check on the manufacturers support site will
usually get you the information of what is bundled with
the make/model of the computer.
Do you even have the OEM disk/s? If not, then in all
legality the machine has not been properly transfered and
is not in compliance with any EULA or TOA of MS. All
documents and disks must be transfered along with the
machine for it to be considered legal."

Since then, I managed to track the original vendor to
the UNB Bookstore (1998). They can provide no assistance.
The Manufacturer, Touch Systems of Canada, do not provide
any support or help of any kind and the Reseller, "Valu
Village", just played dumb. Since they claim they don't
know who they bought the unit from, (which, together with
a phone book), might have enabled me to discover
provenance) I suspect they sold the missing materials
separately or they knowingly received it, shall we
say, 'unrighteously' (The Ser# is not readable on the tag
on the tower).

Q1 Is the Ser# written somewhere else on the unit,
[Touch Model EN 6550]? Before I do anything else, I want
to check with the authorities, obviously.

Q2 Would MS know from the Reg # 12703-OEM-0070696-
16701 if the unit/pre-intsall was ever reported AWOL ?

rooster
boundary bay,
bc

It is not common for a tower to have a serial number - you might be looking
at nothing more than a warranty tag. In any case, it seems the vendor isn't
going to tell you anything about it. It's not good practice to post
software IDs in a public place, but yours appears very generic and I doubt
that MS would know anything useful about it, and if they did I'm not sure
what good it would do you.

The transfer might not be legal if the vendor retained some documentation or
software, but if it no longer exists (or never existed) the point is moot.
If by 'unrighteously' you mean stolen, and if that concerns you then you
should simply put the unit aside until the rightful owner calls in to
collect it.

Check your system for a utility to create an installation CD from the
installation files that might have been copied to the hard drive.

Windows CDs are sometimes available on e-bay or through the on-line computer
software stores. Reference and tutorial books are available through many
bookstores.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"rooster" wrote in message
...
Dear MVP's;

Several months ago, a couple of friends gave me a
computer. At that time I knew nothing about PC's and,
apparently, my benefactors didn't know a whole lot more.
They got the thing second hand (and cheap) from a local
clearing house adjunct to UBC.
The vendor's key selling point was that the unit had
Windows 98 "pre-installed." To my friends, this was a
feature worthy of great glee. To my mind, it was an
appurtancnce about as signifigant as a copy of "CALCVLVS"
would be to a flounder.
I have come to learn that the transfer(s) of
ownership did not conform to convention*; either the
original owner, or the Reseller, kept the documentation,
OEM CD, Manual, and etc's. I am also missing an equivalent
to the "Welcome to Windows" tutorial. Since I had no way
of knowing at the outset these deficits existed, learning
and problem-solving have been rather drastically
impaired.
As it now stands, I have the feeling that I have been
caught 'off-sides' by a careless pass and I wish to get a
new 'face off' and start again.
In response to a previous query of mine to MSNG,
Brian A wrote:

* "A check on the manufacturers support site will
usually get you the information of what is bundled with
the make/model of the computer.
Do you even have the OEM disk/s? If not, then in all
legality the machine has not been properly transfered and
is not in compliance with any EULA or TOA of MS. All
documents and disks must be transfered along with the
machine for it to be considered legal."

Since then, I managed to track the original vendor to
the UNB Bookstore (1998). They can provide no assistance.
The Manufacturer, Touch Systems of Canada, do not provide
any support or help of any kind and the Reseller, "Valu
Village", just played dumb. Since they claim they don't
know who they bought the unit from, (which, together with
a phone book), might have enabled me to discover
provenance) I suspect they sold the missing materials
separately or they knowingly received it, shall we
say, 'unrighteously' (The Ser# is not readable on the tag
on the tower).

Q1 Is the Ser# written somewhere else on the unit,
[Touch Model EN 6550]? Before I do anything else, I want
to check with the authorities, obviously.

Q2 Would MS know from the Reg # 12703-OEM-0070696-
16701 if the unit/pre-intsall was ever reported AWOL ?

rooster
boundary bay,
bc

Jeff;
I am very grateful for your answer, but I have a few
more questions.
I thought virtually every electrical appliance had a
serial #. (a) How do people identify their stuff if stolen
& recovered?
(b) According to Brian A., documentation, OEM CD etc
must have existed at some point for legality's sake. I
inferred from his response that these articles, in effect,
comprise the copywrite equivalent to the registration for
a car. I shall try again to get info from Touch Systems,
but they keep telling me they no longer support W98 and I
must deal with the vendor for any info or materials. All I
want to know at this point is, how do I ensure what I have
is legit?
(c) "... rightful owner calls in to collect it."
That would be fine with me but how would this person know
I have it? Or am I just being naieve?
(d) How do I go about checking for a utility to
create an installation CD. This sounds like a great idea.
Ideally, I would like to do a full systems backup and to
do other maintenances which, according to MSNG epistles I
have read, sometimes require reinstalls, or at least the
capacity to do so if necessary. Being a newbie, these
procedures are still rather confusing & intimidating.

Thanks again,
rooster

-----Original Message-----
It is not common for a tower to have a serial number -
you might be looking
at nothing more than a warranty tag. In any case, it
seems the vendor isn't
going to tell you anything about it. It's not good
practice to post
software IDs in a public place, but yours appears very
generic and I doubt
that MS would know anything useful about it, and if they
did I'm not sure
what good it would do you.

The transfer might not be legal if the vendor retained
some documentation or
software, but if it no longer exists (or never existed)
the point is moot.
If by 'unrighteously' you mean stolen, and if that
concerns you then you
should simply put the unit aside until the rightful owner
calls in to
collect it.

Check your system for a utility to create an installation
CD from the
installation files that might have been copied to the
hard drive.

Windows CDs are sometimes available on e-bay or through
the on-line computer
software stores. Reference and tutorial books are
available through many
bookstores.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"rooster" wrote in
message
...
Dear MVP's;

Several months ago, a couple of friends gave me a
computer. At that time I knew nothing about PC's and,
apparently, my benefactors didn't know a whole lot more.
They got the thing second hand (and cheap) from a local
clearing house adjunct to UBC.
The vendor's key selling point was that the unit had
Windows 98 "pre-installed." To my friends, this was a
feature worthy of great glee. To my mind, it was an
appurtancnce about as signifigant as a copy
of "CALCVLVS"
would be to a flounder.
I have come to learn that the transfer(s) of
ownership did not conform to convention*; either the
original owner, or the Reseller, kept the
documentation,
OEM CD, Manual, and etc's. I am also missing an
equivalent
to the "Welcome to Windows" tutorial. Since I had no
way
of knowing at the outset these deficits existed,
learning
and problem-solving have been rather drastically
impaired.
As it now stands, I have the feeling that I have
been
caught 'off-sides' by a careless pass and I wish to
get a
new 'face off' and start again.
In response to a previous query of mine to MSNG,
Brian A wrote:

* "A check on the manufacturers support site will
usually get you the information of what is bundled with
the make/model of the computer.
Do you even have the OEM disk/s? If not, then in all
legality the machine has not been properly transfered
and
is not in compliance with any EULA or TOA of MS. All
documents and disks must be transfered along with the
machine for it to be considered legal."

Since then, I managed to track the original vendor to
the UNB Bookstore (1998). They can provide no
assistance.
The Manufacturer, Touch Systems of Canada, do not
provide
any support or help of any kind and the Reseller, "Valu
Village", just played dumb. Since they claim they don't
know who they bought the unit from, (which, together
with
a phone book), might have enabled me to discover
provenance) I suspect they sold the missing materials
separately or they knowingly received it, shall we
say, 'unrighteously' (The Ser# is not readable on the
tag
on the tower).

Q1 Is the Ser# written somewhere else on the unit,
[Touch Model EN 6550]? Before I do anything else, I
want
to check with the authorities, obviously.

Q2 Would MS know from the Reg # 12703-OEM-0070696-
16701 if the unit/pre-intsall was ever reported AWOL ?

rooster
boundary bay,
bc




.