Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Recovery Disc Rip-Off

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-get-what-you-don't-pay-for dept.

nk497 writes "The chances of finding a recovery disc at the bottom of a PC box is getting slimmer, as vendors instead take the cheaper option of installing recovery software on a hard disk partition, leaving the buyer with no physical copy of the operating system they paid for if (or when) the hard disk fails. Users can burn a backup disc, but many aren't as diligent as they should be. While some PC vendors will offer a free or cheap disc at the time of purchase, buying one — or even tracking one down — after the fact can be expensive and take weeks to arrive. 'I've had a lot of people that have had this problem,' said David Smith, director of independent maintenance company Help With Your PC. 'One customer recently found his hard drive had gone, but by the time he'd paid £50 for the recovery disc, paid for a new hard drive and paid for the labour of installing the device, it made more sense to buy a new machine.'"

2 of 551 comments (clear)

  1. Re:why can't MS have easy to get iso's for windows by mark72005 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Because all Microsoft's attempts to secure anything end in epic fail.

    The best security measure they have (which is not saying a lot) is the simple fact that not everyone in the world has a physical disk.

  2. Re:It's down to the cost of one disk? by bws111 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Spoken like someone with no idea of what is involved in a manufacturing process.

    You have to qualify the blanks (make sure they are up to your standards, not some cheapo WalMart disk that will lose data in a couple of years). That is cost

    You have to have a supplier to get you the qualified blanks. That is cost.

    You have to store the blanks somewhere. That is cost.

    You have to get the blanks to the burners. That is cost.

    You have to burn the blanks. That is cost.

    You have to purchase and store sleeves for the disks. That is cost.

    You have to get the sleeves to the disks and insert the disks. That is cost.

    You have to store the disk/sleeve assemblies somewhere. That is cost.

    You have to secure the disks. That is cost.

    You have to have logistical tracking of the disks. That is cost.

    You have to get the disks and sleeves to the shipping area and get the correct disk inserted in the box. That is cost.

    You have to be prepared to handle complaints about the disks. That is cost.

    You have to be prepared to ship replacement disks (warranty). That is cost.

    And after you do all that, you have to ask - how many more sales is that cost going to generate? Should I spend the same money on something that may actually result in a sale?