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I have a question. I'm looking at a laptop for school in the Spring. Now, I can buy an Acer right now for about $150 which will work great for what I'm doing. What is holding me back? Well, these things apparently run on Windows XP Basic, some kind of dumbed down version of windows. So, what I'm wondering... is how to fix one of these suckers if say... you have a virus issue or you install something that messes up your windows files? Now, why would this be a concern?


Well, I generally use my laptop to troubleshoot other machines and network issues along with taking notes, sending e-mail... and checking the web. I really don't need anything for gaming ecs. The light weight is what I really like about these nifty little laptops since I've done a lot of tower work and I want something to carry around with me for simple stuff. Now, lets say I convert an HDD to an external and scan it for mobile PC repair service (I do a lot of that on the side), now the HDD happens to have a nasty virus on it and it screws my system over? I usually just zero the drive and re-install windows within an hour or so.

So, does anyone know if there is any way to buy the special version of windows that these use?

it doesn't come on media that comes with the machine?

that being said, its not that hard to trim down XP to fit on it.

If its more than an 8gig HD on those things you can just install a plain-jane copy of XP with only the hassle of hooking up a cd-rom.

All of them use XP Home Edition SP3 (for windows version ones) very poor choice to use for troubleshooting networks

eBay Windows XP Pro OEM..... FTW

I know you're asking for windows, but I think Ubuntu might be worth a shot for your needs. Plus it's free. Aside from networking and diagnostics you wouldn't even need to touch the command line. -info (see:Netbook alternative (Ubuntu Netbook Remix))

If you happen to make a ISO of the CD they send with it, or have a XP cd, you can use WinSetupFromUSB to make a bootable Flash drive to reinstall the OS.

http://www.msfn.org/board/install-usb-w ... 20444.html

Hmmm most retailers such as Radio Shack, Staples, ecs. claim that you don't get an OS disk with it though They also claim that it is a dumbed down version and that you HAVE to send the netbook back if you need to have them re-install the OS. However, what I am seeing on-line tells a different story... everywhere I check for stats, it shows Windows XP Home? Is this a line of BS to get me to send it back to the store for repair or to get me to buy a desperate attempt to get me to buy an extended warranty?

What are the advantages of using Ubuntu for networking exactly? I think I may be using Unix though in one of my classes. Generally I stay away from anything Linux related because of the enormous amount of effort it takes to get windows applications to run in Linux.

I've used mostly XP for any tools I needed when I installed wireless radios/modems and worked on AP radios. I didn't do any internal networking though.

[]V[]essenjah wrote: What are the advantages of using Ubuntu for networking exactly? I think I may be using Unix though in one of my classes. Generally I stay away from anything Linux related because of the enormous amount of effort it takes to get windows applications to run in Linux.

Since I don't know what all you're going to be doing, I'd say try it for a few weeks, to see what walls you run into. 99% of the time you can fix problems by pasting magic sudo commands into the terminal. But since it's free and can run live off the cd, try it! If you do, please post your questions here so I can gain experience by trying to solve them.

Also I know different ways of getting windows stuff to run in ubuntu. I've also found that there are many better alternatives, to the mainstream software, in the ubuntu software repository. But in times where windows is the only choice you can install an instance of windows in virtual box that can catch viruses and spy-ware with out hurting anything. If that takes up too much system resources then install "wine" which needs no windows cd.

Well, you can't buy Windows XP separately any more (there is the second-hand option still of course); I imagine that might have something to do with it.

Other than that, a computer is a computer. If the BIOS supports booting off a CD you should be able to reinstall it yourself. If they don't supply a CD or a key you'd have to get a separate one though... which would be a pain.

Sirius wrote:If the BIOS supports booting off a CD you should be able to reinstall it yourself.

They do not come with CD Drives, that you purchase separately

#2 if you get an external CD/DVD RW you should be able to create a recovery disk from the acer apps. then you can wipe the recovery partition off the included hard drive now that you have physical media produced

but still XP Home is very limited and should not be used for any networking tech work....period!

Take a look at Newegg's netbook deals. I'm sure you can find something there that works for you, with a full XP install, probably XP home (better than vista at any rate). I suggest an ASUS, Lenovo, HP, or Acer.

Does anyone even sell a netbook with Vista on it? I thought they were all either XP or Linux because Vista was just too power hungry.

I don't think any of them come with Vista, but I was saying that in comparison, not implying that a netbook might come with vista on it.

There are actually a few with Vista, but only a few - because it's too power hungry. Curiously I think newegg.com had more Vista Basic netbooks than Linux ones now...

Maybe this can help...

Its not a \"Dumb Down\" version of windows. Its the Same Windows XP Home Edition as always.

YES - you CAN still buy WinXP. If you buy it pre-configured from say.. Dell or HP, it will cost extra to \"downgrade\" but it is still possible. Or you can hit TigerDirect and get XP Pro for $130.

YES, you can re-install windows. Most netbooks do not come with CD/DVD drive, but you can use an external USB Drive to reload windows if you needed to.

For other apps, you can do a network install.

Also - some of the higher-end netbooks have eSATA ports. I would create an image of your system once you get it all configured, then apply to an eSATA drive. Should something go wrong, just boot off eSATA.